Move FM Global News

GHAZNI, Afghanistan – Ten children were blown up by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Afghanistan, in the Ghazni province in the southeast of the country.

The roadside bombing left 8 of the children dead, and two critically injured. 

The children were reportedly playing in the area in the Muqer area of the province on Saturday, when one of them stepped on to the land mine.

Whilst the Taliban and no other group have claimed responsibility for the attack, Taliban militants have been placing improvised explosive devices in various areas to target Afghan security forces.

A special report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) published late last year revealed that between 1 January and 30 September 2018, IEDs caused almost half of the civilian casualties from conflict-related violence.

"Deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime and cannot be tolerated," said UNAMA chief Tadamichi Yamamoto in a press release on the report, which noted the killing and maiming of Afghan civilians by improvised explosive devises, particularly suicide devices, has reached "extreme levels" in Afghanistan.

The special report outlined serious concern over the increased number of deliberate and indiscriminate attacks by anti-government elements against the civilian population.

These attacks primarily involved the use of suicide and non-suicide IEDs: bombs designed, planned and placed to detonate among crowds of civilians to kill and maim Afghan men, women and children; destroy livelihoods; disrupt lives; and create terror among survivors.

The report identified the victims of these deliberate attacks as including midwifery students and students preparing for university entrance exams; players and spectators at cricket and wrestling matches; worshippers at mosques; humanitarian aid workers; education officials; civilian government staff providing essential services to Afghans, as well as civilians seeking to access those government services; and election workers, and men and women attempting to participate in the electoral process.

"Beyond the immediate and direct harm caused to victims and their families, the long-lasting effects of suicide and other IED attacks on the wider civilian population cannot be ignored," Mr. Yamamoto, the top UN official in the country said ast the time the report was released.

He also stressed that the unpredictable nature of these types of attacks has caused Afghans "unbearable suffering" and forced them to live in fear of the next explosion, severely curtailing their ability to carry out normal lives.

(File photo).