2 children killed in mine blast in Afghanistan

Kabul, Oct 3 Two children have been confirmed dead as an unexploded mine went off in north Afghanistan's Jawzjan province, provincial police spokesman Abdul Satar Halimi has said.

A group of children were playing on a hill in the Qarachonqal area of Darzab district around Monday noon when they found a toy-like device and began playing with it. But the device exploded suddenly, killing two children on the spot and injuring another, the official was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

This is the second blast of its kind in the war-ravaged country over the past week. In the previous blast, two children were killed and two others injured after a mortar mine left over from the past war exploded in the Dilaram district of the western Nimroz province last week.

Afghanistan is reportedly one of the most mine-contaminated countries, with unexploded devices left over from decades of war claiming the lives of over a dozen people, mostly children, each month across the country.

--IANS

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