‘Alarmed by escalating violence against children in Afghanistan’: UNICEF

New York [US], August 4 (ANI): UNICEF is alarmed by the escalating violence against children in Afghanistan, UNICEF Afghanistan Representative Herve Ludovic De Lys said on Wednesday.

This statement comes in the backdrop of flogging a teenage boy by an anti-government group. “UNICEF is extremely concerned about the escalation of violence against children in Afghanistan and is outraged by a report that a 12-year-old boy from Shirin Tagab district, Kohsayyad village, in Faryab province, suffered a brutal flogging by a member of an anti-government element,” De Lys said in a statement.

The Afghan representative stated that the flogged boy endured wounds to his back, legs, and feet and is traumatised by the event. “UNICEF, with local partners, is providing urgent help to the child and his family, including psychosocial support, medical care as well as other immediate needs,” De Lys said.

“In line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international humanitarian laws to which Afghanistan is a signatory, all children should be protected. UNICEF urges all parties to conflict to keep children safe and respect their rights.” Afghanistan has witnessed a spike in violence since the US announced its military withdrawal from the war-torn country. The final deadline of American drawdown is now less than a month away with large-scale battles raging throughout the country.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) last week had informed that 1,677 civilians were killed and 3,644 more were injured in the country in the first six months of this year. This is an 80 per cent increase of casualties compared to the same period in 2020, the AIHRC said. According to the AIHRC report, these killings took place in 1,594 different security incidents.

“(It is) important to note that the total number of civilian casualties in the first six months of 2020 was 2,957, including 1,213 killed and 1,744 injured. A comparison of the abovementioned figures shows that civilian casualties have increased by 80 percent in the first six months of 2021 compared with the first six months of 2020,” the report said. (ANI)