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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has condemned the deaths of six children who were among the victims of a landmine explosion that killed eight people Sunday near the town of Bulaburde, south-central Somalia.The landmine explosion that occurred near the town of Bulaburde in south-central Somalia on Sunday claimed the lives of eight people, and six of those killed were children, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). According to Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef, UNICEF’s representative in Somalia, the children were riding in an auto-rickshaw with two other families when it hit the landmine.
“The safety of children must be the primary consideration in all situations, and no effort should be spared in upholding their rights to a safe and protective environment,” Saeed said in a statement issued in the Somali capital of Mogadishu Wednesday evening.
She said the tragic incident occurred just a month after unexploded ordnance killed 22 children in the Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia, bringing attention once more to the dangers Somalian children must contend with on a daily basis.
According to the most recent UN Secretary-General Report on Children and Armed Conflict, Somalia has evolved into one of the world’s most dangerous places for kids as a result of decades of conflict. In 2022, 200 children were killed and nearly 600 were permanently disabled as a result of more than 3,000 cases of serious child rights violations.
“All parties to the conflict in Somalia have a duty to handle ordnance with care, to avoid contaminating populated and transit areas with explosive remnants of war, to clear existing mines and unexploded devices, and to scale up mine risk education among children and communities,” Saeed said.
In Somalia, UNICEF collaborates with the government and other organizations to care for and assist children who have fallen victim to landmines. It also works with civil society organizations to educate children and their caregivers about the dangers of explosive ordnance so that they can better protect themselves.
