KABUL: An average of five children have been killed or injured every day in Afghanistan during the last 14 years of war, according to an international organization’s report.
An international organization namely Save the Children, Afghanistan is one of the 11 most dangerous countries in the world for children. At least 26,025 children were killed or maimed between 2005 and 2019.
Chris Nyamandi, Save the Children’s Country Director in Afghanistan, said: “Imagine living with the constant fear that today might be the day that your child is killed in a suicide attack or an airstrike. #2002AfghanistanConference https://t.co/EjLTYBHrUq
— Save the Children in Afghanistan (@AFGsavechildren) November 23, 2020
According to the report, more than 300 schools were attacked between 2017 and 2019, injuring or killing 410 children. The organization has called on donors to increase funding for education in Afghanistan, especially for girls’ education.
Referring to the plight of Afghans, the organisation’s country director, Christopher Nyamandi, said that they were living in a state of panic and were constantly worried about suicide or airstrikes.
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“This is a serious situation for thousands of Afghan parents whose children have been killed or maimed in such attacks,” Nyamandi said. According to the United Nations, half of Afghanistan’s children are unable to attend school. 60 percent of out-of-school children are girls.
Afghanistan has seen decades of violent conflict that has left tens of thousands of civilians dead. US forces have been in the country since 2001 in an operation to oust the Taliban after the deadly 9/11 attacks in New York. The Taliban was removed from power but later regrouped and now controls more territory than at any time since the start of America’s longest war.
In February the US started withdrawing its troops after signing a landmark agreement with the insurgents. But violence in the country has risen again as the Taliban steps up its offensives amid stalled negotiations with the Afghan government.
