In southeastern Afghanistan, tragedy struck as nine innocent children lost their lives in a devastating blast caused by an unexploded landmine, remnants of the country’s prolonged conflict.
According to Hamidullah Nisar, an official from Ghazni province, the mine detonated while a group of young boys and girls were innocently playing with it in the Geru district on Sunday.
Nisar solemnly conveyed to AFP, “An unexploded mine left over from the time of the Russian invasion went off when they were playing with it.
Unfortunately, it killed nine children.”
The victims, comprising five girls and four boys, ranged in age from four to ten years old, as confirmed by Ghazni police.
Afghanistan’s tumultuous history, marked by the Soviet invasion in 1979, the ensuing civil war, and the Taliban insurgency spanning two decades, has left vast areas of the nation riddled with unexploded ordnance, grenades, and mortars.
While violence has notably decreased since the Taliban regained power in August 2021, the threat of hidden explosives persists.
Despite the shift in power dynamics, the remnants of conflict continue to claim lives indiscriminately.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has highlighted that children bear the brunt of these deadly remnants, often falling victim to the hidden dangers lurking in their communities.
Tragically, the incident in Ghazni was not isolated. On the same day, in Herat province, another child lost their life, and five individuals sustained injuries due to the explosion of unexploded ordnance, as reported by local police on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The heartbreaking loss of innocent lives underscores the urgent need for comprehensive efforts to clear these deadly remnants and safeguard communities, particularly vulnerable children, from the ongoing threat of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan.
