The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), on the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, has said that 90% of incidents in Afghanistan are caused by explosions of unexploded ordnance.
The mission added that Afghanistan has the third-highest rate of casualties from unexploded ordnance in the world, with around 50 people killed every month, nearly 80% of them children.
Nick Pond, Chief of the Mine Action Section, visited a former Soviet military base in Kabul that has been destroyed and turned into an open field.
He said the site is located next to a transit center where migrants returning from Pakistan and other countries arrive.
Pond added that in November 2025, a family arrived at the transit center at midnight, but since it was closed, they were forced to wait in the open field until morning. He said the children collected firewood and lit a fire, unaware that unexploded ordnance lay underground.
The UN mine action official said an explosion occurred while the fire was being lit, sending seven children to hospital.
He stressed that the United Nations urgently needs funding to clear such contaminated areas.
