UNAMA, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, has announced that 80 percent of the victims of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan are children.
In a message published today (Tuesday, February 3) on its Facebook account, the mission stated that Afghanistan ranks as the third country in the world with the highest number of casualties caused by explosive ordnance.
The United Nations political mission further emphasized that landmines and other explosive remnants of war are still widely present across Afghanistan.
UNAMA added that 80 percent of the victims of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan are children, who are often injured or killed as a result of coming into contact with unexploded munitions while playing.
The United Nations also called, in part of its message, for financial support for non-governmental organizations working in the field of mine clearance.
It said that awareness and collective action can save lives.
It should be noted that unexploded ordnance, landmines, and remnants of war left behind from years of conflict claim the lives of hundreds of citizens every year, especially children and women.
The mine-clearing organization The HALO Trust wrote in a report last year that around 50 people in Afghanistan are killed or injured each month due to landmines and explosive remnants of war.
According to United Nations statistics, 3.3 million people in Afghanistan live within one kilometer of areas contaminated with landmines and explosive materials.
