KABUL: Nine children were killed in a landmine blast in Afghanistan on Monday.

A provincial official believed the landmine was laid during the country’s decades of conflict.

Swathes of Afghanistan are littered with unexploded mines, grenades and mortars from decades of conflict, spanning from the Soviet invasion in 1979, the civil war that followed, and the 20-year Taliban insurgency against foreign-backed governments.

The provincial head of the information and culture department, Hamidullah Nisar, said the mine went off as a group of children were playing with it in the Geru district of Ghazni province on Sunday.

“An unexploded mine left over from the time of the Russian invasion went off when they were playing with it,” Nisar told AFP. “Unfortunately, it killed nine children.” Ghazni police said the children — five girls and four boys — were aged from four to ten years old.

Also on Sunday, another child died and five other people were wounded when unexploded ordnance went off in Herat province, local police said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

While violence has reduced dramatically since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, ending their insurgency, unexploded ordnance and mines, however, still claim lives regularly, with the International Committee of the Red Cross saying children are the main victims.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

Time to deliver
Updated 11 Nov, 2024

Time to deliver

Pakistan must display a serious commitment to climate change adaptation and mitigation at home.
Smaller government
11 Nov, 2024

Smaller government

THE IMF bailout programme has put the government under pressure to curtail its spending, especially current...
Unsafe inheritance
11 Nov, 2024

Unsafe inheritance

DESPITE regulations, the troubling practice of robbing women of their rightful inheritance — the culprits are ...
Quetta bombing
Updated 10 Nov, 2024

Quetta bombing

THERE appears to be no end to the stream of violent incidents occurring in Balochistan, indicating a clear failure ...
Burdened courts
10 Nov, 2024

Burdened courts

ACCORDING to recent reports, the new chief justice has set about implementing a recently adopted plan for clearing...
Playing in Pakistan
10 Nov, 2024

Playing in Pakistan

MOHSIN Naqvi, Pakistan’s cricket chief, has shown a brave face. Now he has to be unrelenting and put the onus on...