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Over 500 Afghan children killed or injured by explosive remnants in 2024: UNICEF
Over 65 square kilometres of land across 26 provinces in Afghanistan remain contaminated with improvised explosive devices.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that over 500 Afghan children were killed or injured in 2024 due to explosions from unexploded ordnance and war remnants.
In 2024, UNICEF trained three million children and their guardians to recognize and avoid explosive hazards. On January 5, it shared a photo on social media of children participating in training to identify and stay safe from explosive remnants.
Over 65 square kilometres of land across 26 provinces in Afghanistan remain contaminated with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to a report from HALO Trust, a demining organization. Afghanistan has been identified as one of the four most mine-contaminated countries globally, with HALO deploying 2,235 personnel for demining operations.
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“In 2024, more than 500 children were killed or gravely injured by unexploded ordnances or explosive remnants of war. UNICEF educated around 3 million children and caregivers on the risks of explosive ordnances last year, including how to identify, avoid and report them,” UNICEF Afghanistan said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
During the previous government, the Taliban planted landmines indiscriminately on roads and farmlands, targeting security lines of former government and foreign forces without any systematic mapping. This widespread contamination continues to pose grave risks to local communities, particularly children.
In addition to the ongoing demining efforts, the World Food Program (WFP) has revealed that it can only provide aid to seven million out of the 14 million people facing hunger in Afghanistan due to a shortage of funding.
As reported by Khaama Press, WFP’s emergency head Pauline Eloff shared on X that for every two families needing food assistance, the organization could help only one.
WFP has said that the international community must urgently increase support for demining operations in Afghanistan to mitigate the risks posed by explosive remnants and prevent further casualties.
Many families in remote areas of Afghanistan are expected to rely on food aid to survive the winter. The WFP has already delivered essential supplies to some villages, warning that without continued assistance, some families will not survive the season.
