Reports say at least 115 children have been killed or injured by landmines and UXO since February 2021
A Rohingya mother stands next to her son as he is treated at a hospital in Cox’s Bazar on Sept. 13, 2017, after being injured by a landmine while crossing from Myanmar to Bangladesh. (Photo: AFP)
Two seven-year-old boys were tragically killed in a grenade explosion in conflict-torn Myanmar, which remains strewn with landmines and explosive remnants of war.
The latest incident was reported from Gangaw township of the Magwe region of central Myanmar on June 19. The two children found the unexploded grenade in a jungle and were playing with it, according to UNICEF.
It said at least 115 children have been killed or injured by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) since February 2021, including 47 casualties that occurred between January and April 2022 alone.
“In times of conflict, children are the most vulnerable, including from landmines and UXO,” said UNICEF, adding that “since children are smaller than adults, they are more likely to take the full impact of the blast and are therefore more likely to suffer death or serious injury.”
In Myanmar, more than one third of the reported casualties from landmines and UXO are children, according to UNICEF.
It calls on all parties “to facilitate access for assistance to victims, to stop laying mines and to clear existing mines and UXO.”
A recent UN report revealed that the Myanmar junta has brutally attacked and killed scores of children caught in the crossfire of conflict as well as being targeted for violence
On June 15, a 16-year-old Karenni volunteer lost his leg as he stepped on a landmine planted by Myanmar troops in St. Matthew Catholic Church’s compound after they had burned the church down along with civilian homes in Kayah state, according to a report by Free Burma Rangers.
Myanmar is ranked third after Colombia and Afghanistan in terms of having the highest mine-related casualties in the world. Myanmar recorded 3.745 such casualties between 1999 and 2014.
Myanmar has yet to sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty adopted by more than 80 percent of nations. The Myanmar military has laid landmines every year since 1997. Reports also reveal that most of the country’s 20 or so established armed ethnic groups have used mines.
A recent UN report revealed that the Myanmar junta has brutally attacked and killed scores of children caught in the crossfire of conflict as well as being targeted for violence.
Over the past 16 months, the military has killed at least 142 children and over 250,000 children have been displaced by the military’s attacks. Over 1,400 have been arbitrarily detained and at least 61 children, including several under three years of age, are reportedly being held as hostages, according to the report.
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