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UN: Afghanistan Is Deadliest Place for Children

Margaret Besheer

   NEW YORK - The United Nations said Monday that for the fifth
   consecutive year, Afghanistan was the deadliest country on the planet
   for children.

   In its annual Children in Armed Conflict report, the U.N.
   secretary-general reported that more than 3,000 Afghan children were
   killed in 2019, and nearly as many maimed, overwhelmingly by ground
   fighting, improvised explosive devices and suicide attacks.

   More than 1,200 casualties were attributed to the Taliban, while
   government and pro-government forces, including the Afghan National
   Army and the National Defense and Security Forces, were responsible for
   about a thousand.

   "Last year, it was very much impacted by elections and electoral
   violence," Virginia Gamba, special representative of the
   secretary-general for children and armed conflict, said of Afghanistan
   at the report's virtual launch.

   Despite Afghanistan being the most dangerous, Gamba said there was
   still a decrease in casualties from 2018, due to measures put in place
   by the government and international military forces.

   "There is also a peace process under way, and now there is a relative
   stability that we believe is going to lead to much more decreasing
   numbers," she added.

   War-torn Syria and Yemen followed Afghanistan on the annual list.

   "Although his (the U.N. chief's) list of violators includes Syrian
   government forces and anti-government groups, it omits Russian forces,
   which have been involved in the conflict since 2015," Human Rights
   Watch said of the 1,454 children reported killed or maimed in Syria
   last year.

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