Two children killed in Afghanistan mortar mine blast

Explosion in eastern Wardak province third of its kind in less than week

ANKARA:

At least two children were killed in a mortar mine explosion in eastern Afghanistan, an official said on Sunday.

The incident, which is the third of its kind in less than a week, took place in the Sayedabad district of eastern Afghanistan’s Wardak province on Saturday when the ill-fated children found a mortar mine left over from past wars and started playing with it, police spokesman Yusuf Israr told reporters.

The mortar mine, Israr added, went off, killing both children.

Read more: Afghanistan — why Afghan army collapsed

War-torn Afghanistan is one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world. Dozens of people, mostly children, are killed or maimed every month in explosions caused by unexploded devices left over from the past four decades of wars and civil conflict.

A similar blast killed two children and injured another four in the northern Jawzjan province on Tuesday, while another child lost his life and three others were injured as a live mine exploded in southern Zabul province on Friday, according to the local media.