UNAMA Concerns Over Child Casualties

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is deeply concerned by the continued increase in conflict-related child deaths in Afghanistan in 2017. A recent report of UNAMA stated that the first four months of 2017 witnessed the highest recorded number of child civilian casualties resulting from conflict-related incidents in Afghanistan, including the highest number of children killed, for the same comparable period since the mission began documenting cases. Between 1 January and 30 April 2017, UNAMA preliminarily recorded 987 child casualties (283 deaths and 704 injured), a 21 percent increase in child deaths compared to the same period in 2016. “UNAMA urges parties to the conflict to take immediate measures to reduce harm,” the report reads. According to the report, during 2017, child deaths have risen largely as a result of the persistent use of indirect and/or explosive weapons in civilian-populated areas and due to the use of illegal and indiscriminate improvised explosive devices. Meanwhile the mission urges all parties to the conflict to commence marking, clearing, removing and destroying explosive remnants of war left behind from fighting in areas under their territorial control.