KABUL (BNA) The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has stated concern about the increase in child fatalities caused by explosive offcuts of war in Afghanistan.
In the past seven months, 301 Afghan children have been killed and wounded in an explosion of unexploded ordnance left over from the war, the fund said in a statement yesterday.
In the latest case, two children, including four boys and a girl, were killed and two others were injured when a mortar shell exploded in Helmand’s Marjah district two days back.
Local officials in Helmand said the children were aged three and 12 years old and were killed when they received the mortar from the wreckage, and when they were playing with it, a sudden explosion occurred.
UNICEF has expressed its condolences to the relatives of the victims and said that the number of child fatalities as a result of explosions in Afghanistan is increasing.
UNICEF has expressed concern that such incidents could kill more children in the future, as the fund says that in recent months, more civilians have entered areas previously banned.
UNICEF calls on all in Afghanistan to live up to their responsibilities and to work to clear mines and unexploded ordnance left over from the war, to prevent casualties and to ensure that children live in safe and secure environments.
Afghanistan has witnessed the largest demining operation in the world over the past 20 years.
The United Nations, in coordination with a number of European countries, has spent millions of dollars clearing millions of landmines buried in Afghanistan since the former Soviet Union and its aftermath.
Afghanistan was supposed to be declared free of unexploded ordnance and planted mines in 2010, but this has not been done to date, and unfortunately most children are being hunted for mines that tell the story of the war with the former Soviet Union and the organized wars. It has a country.
Although there is still a risk of mines being planted in Afghanistan, demining companies are not operating as they used to in the past, either because of a reduction in funding or a complete cessation of foreign cooperation in the demining sector in Afghanistan. The propaganda process to inform the public about the dangers of mines and unexploded ordnance has also been significantly reduced.
The worrying thing is that mines have been planted in Afghanistan in a non-technical way, and the former Soviet Union did not leave Afghanistan and did not provide the Afghan authorities with a map of the areas where the mines were planted, and the former Mujahideen Uncoordinated with the government of the time and their regulatory rivals, they planted mines, which made it impossible for demining agencies to operate regularly.
The existence of mines in different parts of the country has put most children, shepherds and those who are trying to get metals at risk, and this has led the United Nations to declare Afghanistan an unsafe place for children.
Alamyar
