UNICEF has announced that at least eight children lost their lives due to unexploded ordnance throughout Afghanistan last week.
These children lost their lives when they were playing with unexploded ordnance and collecting metal scraps to sell, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Sunday on Twitter.
UNICEF has not specified the date and location where these children were killed and has said that on average two children die of such explosions in Afghanistan on a daily basis.
Unexploded weaponry is having a devastating impact on children in Afghanistan. In 2022, more than 700 children were killed or maimed because of unexploded ordnances and war remnants. An average of two children every day. It is crucial to work together to protect children in the war-torn country, the organization said
Besides offering heartfelt condolences to the children’s families and friends, UNICEF stated that the effects of ordnances and war remnants have been devastating on the lives of children in Afghanistan.
UNICEF added that it is increasing its efforts to educate children, parents and the public about the dangers of landmines and unexploded ordnance left on battlefields.
Afghanistan has the most extensive minefields in the world, however, with the reduction of international funds, the demining budget has also decreased, putting the lives of vulnerable people, children in particular at huge risk.
Planting mines has been one of the main tactics of the warring parties in Afghanistan over the past decades. Remaining unexploded materials on the battlefields and around the military quarters has added to this problem.
According to various estimates, millions of landmines have been used in the Afghan war. The usage of landmines has killed thousands of people in Afghanistan and has led to total disruption of Afghan lives. Though United Nations has been successfully instrumental in its demining program in Afghanistan; due to the lack of national infrastructure in the country and the plantation of new mines, the problem has not yet been completely weeded out.
