The landmine explosion in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province killed 10 girls on Monday.

Kagul, Dec 17/Nationalturk- At least 10 girls were killed when a landmine exploded while they were collecting firewood in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province on Monday.

According to officials, the girls, who were aged between 9 and 11, died when one of them accidentally stepped on a landmine in Nangarhar province.

A wire news agency quoted Chaparhar district governor Mohammad Sediq Dawlatzai as saying that an old landmine left over from the time of the war against Soviet troops in 1980s exploded, killing 10 girls. Two other girls were seriously injured. They have been hospitalized, where doctors have termed their condition as “life threatening”.

Immediately after the blast, police and army officials reached the spot and were ascertaining the type of explosive that went off, killing girls.

Nangarhar provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai told reporters that that the mine was planted by ” enemies of Afghanistan” — a reference to Taliban insurgents — even if it had been in that spot for some time.

‘One of most heavily-mined countries in world’

According to UN figures, after withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989, nearly 700,000 mines and more than 15 million explosive left-overs from decades of war have been destroyed.

However, Afghanistan, which has been facing Taliban revolt, continues to be one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world.

The blasts have become a routine in Afghanistan. The Taliban militants plant bombs to target US military, Afghan police and army men. On occasions, the bombs planted by Taliban miss the target and cause civilian casualties.

Write your comments and thoughts below

Faiz Ahmad / NationalTurk Afghanistan News