UNICEF expresses concern over increasing violence against children in Afghanistan

Amid the ongoing offensive in war-torn Afghanistan, UNICEF has condemned the escalation in violence against children in the state. At least 27 children have been killed and 136 have been injured in the past 72 hours in the country, UNICEF said on Monday. 

UNICEF expresses concern over increasing violence against children in Afghanistan 

The top UN Agency in its latest statement said it is "shocked by the rapid escalation of grave violations against children" in Afghanistan. "In the last 72 hours, 20 children have been killed and 130 children have been injured in Kandahar province; Two children were killed and three were injured in Khost province; and in Paktia province, five children were killed and three were injured," UNICEF said.

"These are not numbers. Each one of these deaths and each case of physical suffering is a personal tragedy. These children are much loved and longed-for daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, cousins and friends. All of them are children whose right to protection, under international humanitarian law, has been disregarded by warring parties," UNICEF Afghanistan Representative Herve Ludovic De Lys said in a statement.

UNICEF emphasized that these atrocities are also evidence of the brutal nature and scale of violence in Afghanistan which preys on already vulnerable children. Expressing concern about reports that children are, increasingly, being recruited into the conflict by armed groups, UNICEF said that many other boys and girls are deeply traumatized as they witness atrocities committed against their families and others in their communities. "The atrocities grow higher by the day," it added.

"Children should not pay for this worsening conflict with their childhoods. Only a complete end of hostilities can protect Afghanistan's children. As long as the conflict rages, children's right to thrive is compromised; their futures jeopardized, and their contributions to their nation's prospects diminished," the statement said.

"All children, including children with disabilities, need protection and peace now. UNICEF calls on all those engaged in mediation efforts to uphold the warring parties to their international obligations to children, it added.  

Recently, the Taliban have increased their attacks against civilians and Afghan defence forces and captured several key districts in Afghanistan.

Taliban gains control of provincial capitals

Over the last week, the Afghan forces have faced numerous setbacks as the insurgents move swiftly to put the North under severe pressure by capturing several provincial capitals. On Friday, the Taliban captured their first provincial capital by taking over the border city of Zaranj in Afghanistan's southern Nimroz province. This was followed by Sheberghan in Jawzjan, the following day. According to its deputy governor, Zaranj city in Nimroz fell "without a fight". The authorities have yet to comment on the fall of the provincial capitals.

Herat in the West and Kandahar in the South are some of the recent strategic areas where the Taliban is engaged in a fierce battle with the Afghan security forces. Heavy fighting was reported on the outskirts of Herat, and in the south, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar. 

Government forces have been caught off guard by Taliban advances, but they received some relief late Saturday when US airplanes struck Taliban positions in Sheberghan, the Jawzjan province capital taken earlier in the day. Major Nicole Ferrara, a Central Command spokesperson, said that the US troops have conducted a number of airstrikes in recent days in defense of their Afghan partners. 

Image: Twitter
(With ANI Inputs)