The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has recently announced that more than 700 children were killed or maimed by landmines over the last one year. On its Twitter page, the organization said: “In Afghanistan, more than 700 children were killed and injured as a result of landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices in 2022. This is an average of two children every day.” According to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), about 14,000 Afghan civilians have been killed or wounded by landmines and unexploded ordnance since 1988, with more than two third of the victims have been children many of whom spotted the deadliest devices while playing and picked them up. However, the clearance teams have never stopped, the country is still badly contaminated with landmines and other unexploded remnants of war. Thousands of people, mostly children have lost their lives or at least parts of their bodies; their hands and legs as a result of the landmine and other explosive devices blasts. As demining teams of different organizations are now working to clear all explosive-contaminated areas, we have the responsibility to help them in their efforts to carry out their jobs carefully and seriously. Sometimes, they endanger their lives to rescue our lives and the lives of our children by setting up red and white rocks to mark out safe lands with hidden mines and use metal detectors to inspect dangerous areas in different parts of the country, where the tools sometimes do not work resulting in their death or injury. The painful era of war ended and time has now reached to help mine clearance agencies sweep explosive ordnance and other remnants of wars in the country. The related officials should caution the people, particularly, those in the country’s remote areas about the most possible danger of the regions buried with landmines. Teachers of schools should do their best to have the schoolchildren remain cautious about any unidentified devices, they find anywhere around their surroundings. Parents, should also use their turn and play their role in guiding their children not to pick up unidentified devices. Religious scholars, tribal elders, influential figures and educated youths and experts should jointly develop the process of public warning about the menace of landmines and remnants of wars all over the country. The Islamic Emirate officials are now guiding mine clearance organizations to find the hidden killers and the deadly traps all over the country, as the country is now safe and secure for the entire charity organizations who want to work for the safety and immunity of civilians. Let us work together to have a free-explosives country, leave behind the most helpful culture of fighting explosive ordnances to the next generations and lodge the issue of battling the hidden killers in the schools’ curriculum
