A new report from the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict provides a peek into the weight of the conflict being placed upon children in Afghanistan. These nine numbers tell the story.
- There were 14,000 violations against children reported in a recent UN report on Afghanistan.
- This includes 3,500 children killed and 9,000 injured.
- Children represent one-third of all civilian casualties in Afghanistan between 2015 and 2018.
- Armed groups are responsible for 43% of the child casualties in Afghanistan. The bulk of these belong to the Taliban but ISIS is claiming a larger and larger number.
- Among the civilian casualties from airstrikes, 40% of them are children.
- There were 1,049 child casualties from airstrikes between 2015-18.
- Among these child casualties from airstrikes, 464 were killed.
- Government and pro-government forces are responsible for 30% of the child casualties.
Children in Afghanistan are being assaulted from all sides of the conflict. There is no escape and there is no plan in place for this to end.
The Trump administration has been seeking to negotiate peace with the Taliban. It was 18 years ago when the US invaded Afghanistan to bring the Taliban to an end after they gave refuge to Osama bin Laden.
Those peace negotiations are currently stalled but it is the closest thing to a resolution we have so far seen in the war without end. Following the suspension of peace talks, the US suspended $100 million in aid to our allies in Afghanistan’s government. Apparently corruption is too great to be trusted with US aid.
As for the people of Afghanistan being given the freedom to work their way out of this quagmire? In last month’s elections, 85 civilians were killed in attacks on Afghanistan’s polls. In the third quarter of 2019 civilian casualties reached a record high in Afghanistan, rising by 42% from this same time last year.
