PESHAWAR, March 31: Landmines have caused injuries to the children in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and many of them have been rendered handicapped. Only in Bajaur Agency 203 children have been injured, a survey revealed.

The local population does not know how to get rid of this menace left over by the decades-old Afghan war. Neither the government nor the international NGOs are paying attention to this vital issue. A majority of these children are deprived of their lives.

According to a survey conducted by the Association of Paediatricians of NWFP, landmine explosions are the main cause of children’s death in the tribal belt running along the Pakistan-Afghan border. It says over 700 people died only in the Bajaur Agency.

“War in Afghanistan left a legacy of landmines in the tribal agencies, Balochistan and other adjoining areas which caused death and injuries to thousands of people especially children,” a paediatrician told Dawn.

The survey revealed that 56.6 per cent of children’s death in Bajaur Agency are solely caused by landmine explosions. Most of them die due to the absence of medical facilities. The schoolchildren are the worst affected. At least 37 per cent of children are hit by landmines on their way to school and 28 per cent are hit when they pass through landmine strewn fields.

“Children are the main victims and majority of them become handicapped, said a paediatrician.

There is dire need to improve public health system for rehabilitation of children crippled by landmines.