KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Two children were killed and two others injured in an explosion caused by unexploded ordnance in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan, on Tuesday, according to local Taliban authorities.
The blast occurred in the Dara-e-Nur district while the children were playing with the device, said Sayed Tayeb Hamad, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s provincial security command.
The injured children were taken to a local hospital and are in stable condition, Hamad added.
This incident follows similar explosions in Nangarhar’s Kama and Sherzad districts just days earlier, which resulted in injuries to four children and one woman.
Afghanistan remains one of the world’s most heavily contaminated countries with explosive remnants of war, after decades of conflict. Children are particularly vulnerable to these dangers.
The United Nations estimates that two-thirds of Afghanistan’s districts are affected by explosive hazards, putting more than 6 million people at risk.
According to the HALO Trust, an international demining organization, unexploded ordnance kills or injures at least 50 people every month in Afghanistan, with over 80% of the victims being children.
Despite the ongoing danger, demining operations are being scaled back. The UN and other aid agencies face the worst funding shortfall in years, forcing some to close or reduce their activities.
In his latest report presented to the UN Security Council on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged immediate funding to prevent further deaths and lifelong injuries from these hidden dangers.
