The raging conflict between Indian security forces and Maoist rebels in central India figures in a report submitted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Security Council on the use of children in armed conflict around the world. It is the first time that the conflict in the Indian states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, which began in 1967, has appeared in a U.N. report that focuses on the rights violations by both sides. Another issue involving India -- the Jammu and Kashmir dispute with Pakistan -- remains on the 15-nation council's agenda. Friday's report named 16 different military forces and rebel groups that are the most persistent violators of children in armed conflicts, identifying groups in Asia, Africa and Latin America which continue to recruit child soldiers and use them to wage war. It also identifies the groups which subjects minors to the most brutal violence, such as killings, maimings, rapes and other sexual assaults. The UN Security Council has stated repeatedly that it will consider targeted sanctions, including arms embargoes, against parties to armed conflict that do not end their use of child soldiers. On the Indian conflict, the secretary-generals report describes how the Maoists, particularly in Chhattisgarh state, are recruiting and using boys and girls in their ranks, and that they have carried out systematic attacks on schools to damage and destroy government structures and to instill fear among local residents. The report also noted that government security forces have been occupying school buildings in the states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. In 2009, security forces similarly occupied school buildings in Bihar and West Bengal states. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch, a New York-based international watchdog body, asked India to immediately review state government policies of occupying and using school buildings as part of operations against Maoist armed groups, known as Naxalites, and give schools better protection from Maoist attacks. Human Rights Watch also called upon the Maoists to immediately cease their recruitment and use of children, and stop attacking schools. "Both the security forces and the Maoists in India are exploiting and harming children, destroying their chances at an education and causing damage that will affect their entire lives," Bede Sheppard, Asia researcher on children's rights at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "The new UN report will focus international attention on this tragic situation." Sheppard said, Having security forces occupy school grounds puts children and their education at unnecessary risk. Now this practice is putting Indias reputation on the world stage at risk. In a 2009 report, Sabotaged Schooling, Human Rights Watch documented how government security forces both police and paramilitary police occupy school buildings as bases for anti-Maoist operations, sometimes only for a few days, but often for periods lasting several months and even years. Sometimes the security forces take over entire buildings, while in other places they occupy parts of school buildings, with students trying to carry on their studies in the remaining space, often under distracting and even frightening circumstances. Human Rights Watch has also documented that at least 34 schools in Jharkhand and 16 schools in Bihar were attacked by the Maoists during 2009. These do not include schools that were occupied by security forces at the time of attack. Most of the attacks occurred at night when students and teachers were not there. The UN secretary-generals report, which covers all of 2009, was submitted in response to Security Council Resolution 1882 of August 4, 2009, in which the council requested a briefing on the issue of children and armed conflict around the world. India was one of 22 countries highlighted in the report, which will be debated by the Security Council in June. Secretary-General Ban has brought international attention to the mistreatment of children in Indias Maoist conflict, Sheppard said. The Security Council should be prepared to take action if the Indian government and the Maoists do not act to better protect children.