At least 460 children were killed due to relentless violence in the first six months of the current year in Afghanistan, the United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF) said in its latest report.  

The report also cited the killing of “nine members of one family, including four girls and two boys,” who were reportedly killed on Thursday morning, “when an explosive remnant of war detonated inside a home in Kunduz.”  

According to the report, three other children were injured.  

The waves of four decades of conflict have affected the lives of thousands of people in Afghanistan.  

Hibatullah, 6, lost his leg because of the conflict and said that he is now dependent on an artificial leg.  

“My son was hit with a bullet in a clash in Nangarhar. He was hospitalized for a long time and then his leg was amputated,” said Abdullah, Hibatullah’s father. “We were very hopeless. He is now under treatment by the Red Cross and (they) made an artificial leg for him.”  

“Every day, 10 to 15 children who are brought here struggle with brain freeze. It is very dangerous in the current situation and this is all due to war and chemical materials that have affected the children,” said Mohammad Fahim, a therapist.  

UNICEF’s statement expressed concern over the condition of the Afghan children.  

“We are also concerned about the number of children killed by explosive devices so far this year. The death of one child is heartbreaking,” said Samantha Mort, chief of communication, advocacy & civic engagement for UNICEF.

The UN organization underscored poverty and malnutrition as another two challenges that the Afghan children have been struggling with for years now.  

“We are extremely concerned about the situation for children in Afghanistan at the moment” said Heather Barr, Human Rights Watch's associate director of the women's rights division. “It is a very desperate situation… the most pressing issue is hunger and malnutrition. There are 3.1 million who are severely malnourished in Afghanistan and the United Nation says that one million of them are at risk to death.”