DAMASCUS (AFP) –
Explosive remnants of the foreign-backed war in Syria killed nearly 30 civilians, including more than a dozen children, last month, a war monitoring group said Wednesday.
The Britain-based so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “29 civilians, including 12 children, died from explosive remnants in March” and that another 29 were wounded.
The latest toll brings to 73 the total number of people killed by explosive remnants since the start of the year, according to the monitor, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria.
Explosives left by the foreign-backed militants, along roads or even in buildings in Syria’s decade-long conflict have wounded thousands of civilians and killed hundreds of others.
Across the country, one in three communities are thought to be contaminated by explosive ordnance, says the United Nations.
In 2020, Syria overtook Afghanistan as the country with the highest number of recorded casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war, with 2,729 people killed or wounded, according to the Landmine Monitor.
In 2021, 241 civilians were killed and 128 wounded by explosive remnants across Syria, said the Observatory.
The war in the country is estimated to have killed nearly half a million people and displaced millions since it began in 2011.
On Tuesday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said more than 519 Iraqi children have been killed or maimed over the past five years from explosive remnants.
“For the last 5 years, 519 children have been killed or maimed in Iraq due to explosive ordnance,” UNICEF said in a statement marking International Mine Awareness Day, jointly released with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS).
It said more than 80% of the affected children are boys “due to incidents of child labor, such as grazing animals or collecting scrap metal to sell.”
“Children are particularly vulnerable, attracted to remnants for their colorful appearance and unaware of how dangerous they are. Some of these weapons are familiar household objects that have been turned into explosives,” the statement added.
UNICEF and UNMAS urged governments “to avoid the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA), and to speak out to protect children and civilians worldwide from the threat of explosive ordnance.”