The Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (DMAC) said that the civilian casualties due to explosive ordnance have increased in recent months.

According to the DMAC, more than 500 people have been killed or wounded in these incidents over the last year.

Most recently, on Friday two children were killed and two others were wounded in a blast that occurred in Zazai Aryoub district of Paktia province.

Shafiq, one of those wounded in the incident, has been transferred to Emergency hospital in Kabul.

“He received injuries in three parts of his body. One of the children has been hit with a fragment in his head. His eye has been stitched. My own son has been hit with a fragment that broke his bone,” Shafiq’s father said.

“My brother told me in the ambulance that they hit the unexploded ordnance with a stone and then it detonated. When the blast happened, two people were killed and two others were wounded,” said Sayed Rahman, a brother of one of the two wounded.

The DMAC said that at least 556 people—most of them children—have been either killed or wounded in these incidents.

“We have had some incidents in the past two months-- in September and October. 9 people were killed and 15 others were wounded in 11 incidents in various provinces,” said Noruddin Rustamkhail, head of the DMAC.

Rustamkhail expressed concerns that they haven’t receive any foreign aid to operate their mission in the country.

“Currently, around 600 km needing to be demined. The foreign donors unfortunately have not paid attention to this problem. To demine these areas, there is a need for foreign aid,” he said.

The DMAC said that more than 86 km land has been demined from unexploded ordnance within the last year.