The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has announced that children constituted 78% of the victims of unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan during the first eight months of 2026. Expressing deep concern, the agency called for serious attention to this crisis.
In a note posted on X on Wednesday, OCHA wrote that explosive remnants of war continue to pose a daily and deadly threat to the people of Afghanistan. In an accompanying video, OCHA representative Olga Cherevko stated that these munitions can take lives or cause permanent disability at any moment.
In the video, recorded in Kandahar, Ms. Cherevko pointed to a rapid response team that was in the process of destroying an unexploded shell left over from the 1980s. The shell had been found by a community member just two days prior.
OCHA emphasizes that despite the efforts of demining groups across the country, these activities face a severe funding shortage. Of the $14.5 million required to address this crisis this year, only $4.3 million has been secured.
This funding gap means that many communities continue to live with a hidden threat lurking beneath the ground, waiting for its next victims. Ms. Cherevko called for sustainable financing to continue the work of clearance teams, stressing that this support is vital to protecting the lives of children, farmers, and other civilians.
Decades of war have made Afghanistan one of ahe most contaminated countries with mines and unexploded ordnance. This past September, an explosion of such material in Khost province claimed the lives of two children.
Source: Zarin TV
🌐
