(CNN) The U.N. has dropped a Saudi-led coalition that is bombing Yemen from a blacklist of groups violating children's rights in armed conflict, a move that rights groups slammed as "political manipulation" of the international body. The U.N. report, which each year shames the worst perpetrators, claimed that the Saudi-led coalition was responsible for 60% of the 1,953 children recorded as killed or maimed in the conflict in 2015. Those casualties have risen sixfold since the previous year. A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon confirmed that the coalition had been removed from the blacklist, saying it had agreed to a joint review with Saudi officials of the cases and numbers of casualties mentioned in the report.U.N. claims Saudi-led coalition is responsible for 60% of child casualtiesAmnesty International says U.N. move is "blatant pandering" to Saudis
"This is a stark example of why the _ needs to stand up for human rights and its own principles -- otherwise it will rapidly become part of the problem rather than the solution." The U.N. reports that around 6,000 people, about half of them civilians, have been killed in _ since fighting escalated in March 2015.