Mortar Shell Kills Seven Afghan Children

An Afghan official said at least seven children were killed and eight others wounded when an unexploded mortar shell went off in the country's east.

The incident occurred in a village near Mihterlam, the capital of the eastern province of Laghman, on April 14.

Assadullah Dawlatzai, the spokesman for the provincial governor, said authorities were investigating how the children found the mortar and why it exploded.

Dawlatzai said all those killed or wounded were under 15 and at least four were in serious condition in the hospital.

The United Nations Mine Action Service said around 150 people were killed or injured in Afghanistan each month in 2017 by mines and so-called explosive remnants of war.

While many land mines come from the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and the civil war in the 1990s, casualties have increased from homemade bombs used by the Taliban.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP