https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-taliban-089b0e358b1d1e06aed6337eb18b5023
On April 1st, Taliban officials states that two bombs placed at a playing field in Afghanistan’s western Herat province killed five people and wounded 25 others. Earlier in the day, five children died in southern Helmand province after finding an unexploded shell that went off. According to the Taliban-appointed Herat provincial spokesman, Mahmood Rasoly, the two bombs went off among civilians at a field used for traditional Afghan games, such as mud wrestling and Buzkashi, played with horse-mounted players. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing in Herat. Another Taliban official in the province, Naeemulhaq Haqqni, chief of the Herat Information and Culture Department, said the Taliban found and defused two other bombs also planted in the same playing field. In the explosion in Helmand, the children, aged between three and twelve years, appeared to have discovered the shell and were playing with it in the district of Marja, when it suddenly went off, said Abdul Bari Rashid Helmandi, a Taliban media officer in the province. A former local council member, Ahmadullah, said two other children were injured in the explosion and were being treated in the district hospital. By some estimates the Taliban Control two-thirds of the country. While many experts predicted that the rapid and unconditional withdrawal of U.S. troops would increase Taliban control, few saw it happening this fast. Afghanistan remains highly dangerous for children, who often collect scrap metal to sell to support their families. Many are killed or maimed when they come across unexploded ordnance. Not only are explosives factors that are detrimental to children lives in Afghanistan, Children across the country are increasingly vulnerable to disease and illness due to the deadly combination of rising malnutrition, an unprecedented food crisis, drought, disruptions to vital health and nutrition centers, lack of access to and poor quality of water and sanitation services, etc. This just contributes to the danger that children who live in Afghanistan are faced with.