MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Sept. 22, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – Eight children were
killed and six others wounded in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan’s
northern province of Faryab, local police said Saturday.
The incident occurred in Koh-e-Sayyad village of Shirin Tagab district,
north of provincial capital Maimana city on Friday evening, provincial police
spokesman Abdul Karim Urash told Xinhua, blaming the Taliban militant group
for planting the landmine.
The victims were aged between six and 12, according to the police
spokesman.
Taliban militants and Islamic State (IS) militants have been using
improvised explosive devices (IEDs), targeting security forces, but the
lethal home-made weapons also inflict casualties on civilians.
More than 1,690 civilians were killed and over 3,430 others injured in
conflict-related incidents in the first half of the year in the war-torn
country, according to figures released by the United Nations mission in the
country.
Out of the casualties, 363 children lost their lives while 992 children
injured during the period.