26,000 Afghan children killed or maimed in conflict

At least 26,025 Afghan children have been killed or permanently disabled in the Afghan conflict over the past 14 years, since 2005, nonprofit Save the Children said in a report published on Monday, reported EFE-EPA.

“Between 2005 and 2019, at least 26,025 children have been killed or maimed in Afghanistan – an average of five children every single day over the past 14 years,” said the report.

The NGO said that the figures reveal the terrible consequences of decades of armed conflict on the Afghan children, calling the figures "shocking."

“Imagine living with the constant fear that today might be the day that your child is killed in a suicide attack or an airstrike. This is the grim reality for tens of thousands of Afghan parents whose children have been killed or injured," said Chris Nyamandi, Save the Children’s country director in Afghanistan.

Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the humanitarian needs in Afghanistan, where an estimated 7 million children are in need of "urgent help," including 3 million under the age of five suffering from lack of nutrition.

In a donor conference being held this week in Geneva, Save th Children joined the efforts to raise humanitarian funding for Afghanistan, as the United Nations has collected only 42 percent of the aid funds needed for the war-affected country.

“This week’s conference is a crucial moment for donor governments to reaffirm their support to Afghanistan and its millions of children, at a time when it is needed more than ever,” Nyamandi added.

As the 2020 Afghanistan Conference was held in Geneva on Monday, Save the Children urged the international community to increase funding for education, especially for girls.

Around 3.7 million Afghan children, nearly 60 percent of them girls, do not go to school.

Between 2017 and 2019, there were more than 300 attacks on schools, in which at least 410 students or teachers were killed or injured according to the nonprofit.

The Afghan government has been trying to establish a dialog to reach a peace agreement with the Taliban to find a political solution to the 19-year-long war.

However, both Kabul and the rebels have failed to make much progress despite continuing talks in Doha for more than two months now.