Afghan Watchdog Report Highlights War's Toll on Children

by Una M. · 2010-01-10 12:13:00 UTC
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More than 1,000 Afghan children were killed in war-related violence in Afghanistan in 2009, according to a report by the Kabul-based watchdog Afghan Rights Monitor (ARM).

"At least three children were killed in war-related incidents every day in 2009 and many others suffered in diverse but mostly unreported ways," ARM director Ajmal Samadi said.

Children were killed in suicide attacks, roadside bombings, air strikes and crossfire, as well as by landmines and other explosive devices left over from earlier periods in Afghanistan's long-running conflict, the report said.

The ARM report attributed 64 percent of violent child deaths caused by combatants to the Taliban and other insurgent groups, and the rest to NATO and pro-government forces.

The report also criticized insurgents for other human rights violations, including depriving children of the right to education. "Through a horrible anti-education policy of heinous attacks, intimidation and terror the insurgents deprived hundreds of thousands of children, boys and girls, of education mostly in the insecure south and east of the country," it said.

Though ARM's harshest words were directed at insurgents, the Afghan Government didn't escape criticism. According to the report, the government failed to implement laws to protect children, and allowed official security forces to abuse and illegally detain children with impunity.

ARM called on the Afghan authorities to establish a special child protection body and to liaise with the warring parties on reducing the harm children suffer as a result of ongoing fighting.

Photo: Nasim Fekrat / CC BY 2.0

Una M.
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