KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Two separate incidents in Nangarhar province have resulted in civilian casualties, including the death and injury of children in an explosion and the death and injury of women in a house collapse.
Local Taliban officials in Nangarhar say that a child has been killed and another child injured as a result of an explosion caused by unexploded ordnance left over from the war in the Rodat district of the province.
Sayed Tayeb Hamad, spokesperson for the Taliban’s police command in Nangarhar, said the incident occurred at around 10:00 a.m. today (Wednesday, May 6) in the “Qatarghi” area of Rodat district.
According to him, the incident happened while children were playing with unexploded munitions.
As a result of the explosion, a boy was killed and a young girl was injured.
Afghanistan is one of the world’s most heavily mine-contaminated countries, with millions of people living in or near affected areas, according to the United Nations.
The country ranks among the highest globally for casualties from mines and explosive remnants of war. Children are disproportionately affected, often while playing outdoors or collecting metal.
A recent report by Save the Children highlighted the scale of the problem, stating that nearly one Afghan child is killed or injured by explosive ordnance every day on average. Between January 2025 and January 2026, the organization documented 338 children killed, injured or permanently disabled by such devices, accounting for nearly 70% of all victims in that period.
Meanwhile, demining and risk-education efforts have slowed in recent years amid declining international funding, forcing some United Nations agencies and humanitarian groups to reduce or close mine-action projects.
In a separate incident, Taliban local authorities in Nangarhar announced that a woman was killed and another woman injured after the roof of a house collapsed in the Sherzad district of the province.
The office of the Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Nangarhar said in a statement that the incident occurred at around 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday night (May 5) in the “Aman Khil” area of Sherzad district.
The cause of the house roof collapse was attributed to “recent rainfall and the age of the house.”
Two weeks ago, a similar incident occurred in the Shinwar district of Nangarhar, where seven people, including women and children, were killed and injured.
These incidents underscore the ongoing humanitarian and safety challenges in Afghanistan, where remnants of war, poor infrastructure, and harsh weather conditions continue to pose serious risks to civilians, particularly vulnerable groups such as children and women.
