Children’s deadly game with mortars

KABUL: Four children were killed while playing with an unexploded mortar round in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province, an official said yesterday.

One child was also injured in the explosion in Naqilan, Ekramuddin Sari, Baghlan’s police chief, said.

As fighting against the Taliban intensifies across the country, casualty reports increasingly surface. The area where the incident took place is under Taliban control, Sari said.

The number of casualties caused by the detonation of explosive remnants increased by 66% last year compared with the previous year, according to the UN’s annual civilian casualty report.