1 in 4 children in poverty after war on IS: UN

One in four Iraqi children are in poverty and four million are in need of assistance as a result of the country's war with Islamic State militants, the United Nation's children agency said yesterday.

The UN has verified 150 attacks on education facilities and 50 attacks on health centres and personnel since 2014, UNICEF said in a statement. Half of Iraq's schools need repairs and over 3 million children have had their education interrupted, it said.

Kuwait will host an international conference on Iraq's reconstruction on Feb 12-14. Iraq is seeking $100 billion in foreign investment to rebuild parts of the country and revive the economy.

 The United States, which leads an international coalition that provided Iraq with key air support in the fight against Islamic State, does not plan to contribute any money at the Kuwait conference, US and Western officials said.