A recent report published by Save The Children shows the vast majority of respondents to a survey said children feel least safe on their way to school, the marketplace or when close to government buildings or checkpoints, and a large proportion of children in parts of Afghanistan suffer from symptoms such as depression and anxiety but lack access to support services.

According to the report, a staggering two-thirds of parents in parts of Afghanistan say their children are scared of explosions, kidnappings or other forms of extreme violence on their journeys to school, a new report by Save the Children finds. The survey included 600 parents and 90 children across four provinces and revealed that children are living in constant fear for their lives and do not have any way of getting help.

In some parts of the country 95 percent of parents who were interviewed said their children had experienced conflict. In the city of Kabul, it was 65 percent.

“Children live in fear of explosives, gun violence and the sound of attack helicopters on their way to and at school, and also when they go to the market, or simply while playing outside with friends. Only 30 percent of children feel safe at school, with girls feeling less safe than boys. Many of the children who were interviewed were scared to even go outside.”

A 14-year-old girl from Sar-e-Pul said quoted in the report said:

“When fighting breaks out, no place is safe in our village, but home is still better than outside. We hide in the corners of rooms.”

Another 16-year-old girl from Kabul said:

"My 14-year-old brother was near an attack on Darulaman [road], and after the attack, he was always scared and anxious. He would stand up each time there was a sound at home, even the sound of a door closing."

Onno van Manen, Save the Children’s Afghanistan Country Director, said:

“After 18 years, war has become so normalized in Afghanistan that children barely flinch when they hear a distant explosion or walk past the gruesome aftermath of a bomb blast. All this has become disturbingly routine.