Three children, two boys and a girl, were killed on Monday in the Haji Aziz area of Kandahar city after a landmine exploded. According to local Taliban officials, the mine detonated while the children, aged between nine and 13, were playing with it in their home.
The family had recently moved to the city, the officials said.
Decades of war have left Afghanistan as one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world, with a high risk of casualties due to unexploded ordnance and explosive remnants of war.
In 2022, 995 people were killed by mines and unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Of these, 97 percent were civilians, and more than half were children.
A UN report states that Afghanistan still has “some 4,158 identified hazards,” representing nearly 1,200 km² of land, and threatening about 1,537 communities. These hazards impede the safe movement of civilians and aid workers, reduce access to socio-economic opportunities, and impede development.
