Landmines and unexploded ordnance in Syria have killed or injured at least 188 children since President Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow in December, according to the Save the Children charity.
In a statement on Thursday, the UK-based group revealed that more than 60 children were killed, warning that the toll could rise as more families return to the war-ravaged country.
Since Assad was toppled on December 8, “landmines and explosive remnants of war have caused at least 628 casualties, more than two-thirds of the total number of casualties for all of 2023,” Save the Children said.
The United Nations recently reported that about 1.2 million people have returned home to Syria in the past three months, including over 885,000 who were internally displaced.
“Much of Syria is pockmarked by mines and explosive remnants of war after 13 years of conflict,” said Bujar Hoxha, the charity’s Syria director. “At least 188 children have been killed or injured in about three months — that’s an average of two children a day,” he added.
The group called on transitional authorities and international donors to accelerate efforts to clear mines and unexploded ordnance in Syria.
A report by the non-governmental organisation Humanity and Inclusion last month highlighted the dangers posed by unexploded munitions left over from the devastating civil war that began in 2011. The report estimated that between 100,000 and 300,000 of the roughly one million munitions used during the war had never detonated.
In a tragic incident last month, at least eight civilians, including three children, were killed when unexploded munitions ignited at a house in northwestern Syria, according to a war monitor and civil defence sources.
