November 24, 2020
In a distressing report released by Save the Children-a UK based International charity fund, conflict in Afghanistan, has killed and wounded 26,025 children between 2005-2019. This has placed Afghanistan among the 11 deadliest countries for the children.
These figures account to the causalities and injuries suffered as a result of direct conflicts between pro- and anti-government forces alone. According to United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in the first nine months of 2020 alone, among the 5,939 civilians killed and wounded in the violent attacks, 31% were children. The toll for 2019 is also alarming when 2,275 children were injured or maimed and 874 killed.
All this puts Afghanistan, accounting for 30% of the total killed or maimed children in conflicts, across the world.
However, the ratio for those wounded and killed as a result of the violence either in direct combat, suicide as well as non-suicide attacks, have been most high for young boys. As more than two-thirds of those killed and injured during the last year had been boys.
The attacks on schools by the militants and the escalation of violence on daily basis between Afghan government versus the Taliban and other insurgents, have also created an environment of uncertainty for the children going to school. As reported by Save the Children, between 2017 and 2019 more than 300 attacks, were carried out on schools. Already a staggering 3.7 million school-aged children are out of school, in Afghanistan.
This sorrow tale does not end here as the Afghan children suffering from natural disasters, poverty and underdevelopment adds to the distress of the Afghan nation. Children involved in child labor amounts to one-third of total child population and 600,000 of those under the age of 5 are victims of mal-nutrition.
Amidst the decreasing International humanitarian assistance and the surging pandemic, the situation for Afghan civilians and particularly for children, seems to be in doldrums. With the escalation of violence in Afghanistan and the stalled Afghan peace process coupled with the US drawdown of the US troops, an uncertain Afghanistan spells an uncertain future for the Afghan children.
The report is compiled by Tooba Altaf, an International Relations graduate while working as a Researcher at the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad.
© Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and Afghan Studies Center (ASC), Islamabad.
