Mines kill, injure more than 500 children in Iraq: UN
At least 519 children have been killed or injured by landmines and unexploded ordnance in Iraq in the past five years, UN agencies have warned.
Over 519 children have been killed or maimed over the last five years in Iraq from explosive ordnance. UNICEF and UNMAS commend international efforts to put forward a political declaration to ensure the protection of civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
"More than 80 percent of children affected are boys," the rights groups Unicef, the world body’s children’s agency, and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said in a joint statement on Monday night.
They added that boys were "disproportionately impacted due to incidents of child labour, such as grazing animals or collecting scrap metal to sell". The statement said although Iraq has not "suffered from open conflicts" over the past years, "the effects of explosive weapons will reverberate for years to come".
A report by the charity Humanity & Inclusion said: "Iraq is considered one of the countries most contaminated by explosive devices in the world," with more than 3,225 square kilometres (1,245 square miles) of land contaminated with unexploded ordnance.
