ALBAWABA - Nine children were killed in a blast in southeastern Afghanistan triggered by a landmine planted during the country's decades-long conflict, a provincial official said Monday.
According to Hamidullah Nisar, the provincial head of the information and culture department, the mine exploded on Sunday while a group of young boys and girls were playing with it in Ghazni's Geru area.
"An unexploded mine left over from the time of the Russian invasion went off when they were playing with it," Nisar told AFP. Ghazni police said the children, who unfortunately lost their lives in the explosion, were aged from four to ten years old.
On Sunday, another kid was killed and five others were injured when unexploded munitions exploded in Herat province, according to local authorities.
Violence has decreased considerably since the Taliban obtained power in August 2021, thereby ending the years-long conflict. However, unexploded ordnance and mines continue to kill people regularly, with children being the most vulnerable, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
