SYRIA (Dispatches) – Four children from the same family were killed in a mine blast inside a house in rebel-held north Syria on Monday, a relative told AFP.
The family had been displaced and moved two weeks ago into the unfinished house in Binnish, near the city of Idlib, their uncle, Abu Dahham al-Muhammad, told AFP.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the victims were siblings.
Although fighting has subsided, remnants of explosives laid by terrorists in Syria’s 11-year-old foreign-backed conflict are now claiming more lives than anywhere else in the world, according to the United Nations.
The latest mine blast deaths bring to 176 the total number of people killed by explosive remnants since the start of 2022, according to the Britain-based Observatory.
On Sunday, three children were killed by an explosive device in the village of Daba’a south of the central province of Homs, according to the UK-based watchdog group and the state news agency SANA.
About 10.2 million people, or roughly half of all Syrians, live in areas contaminated with explosive devices, the UN says.
Almost every week, the Syrian army detonates explosives it uncovers in various previous battle zones.
In June, the UN said explosive ordnance contamination represents a major protection concern, with one in two Syrians estimated to be living in contaminated areas.