The term ERW refers to unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO) by Afghan officials…reports Asian Lite News
Four children have been killed by an unexploded ordnance blast in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, the country’s Ministry of Interior said on Saturday.
The incident occurred in Shah Wali Kot district when an Explosive Remnant of War (ERW) was detonated when the children were playing in a village, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.
The term ERW refers to unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO) by Afghan officials.
Landmines, anti-personnel mines as well as ERWs left behind from wars kill or maim about 120 people every month in the post-conflict country, according to official sources.
On Friday, two civilians were killed and three others wounded when an ERW exploded in eastern Paktia province.
Photo taken on Oct. 15, 2021 shows the site of an explosion at a mosque in Kandahar city, southern Afghanistan. (Photo by Sanaullah Seiam /Xinhua/IANS)
The three back-to-back explosions hit the mosque, one of the biggest in Kandahar city, reports Asian Lite News
The Islamic State (IS) terror group on Saturday claimed responsibility for the bombings inside a mosque in Afghanistan’s Kandahar city, which claimed the lives of 47 persons and injured 90 others, a local official has confirmed.
The official from Kandahar’s Cultural and Information Directorate confirmed the updated death toll.
In a statement, the IS claimed responsibility and said that two assailants were involved in the deadly attacks which took place on Friday inside the Bibi Fatima Shia mosque in police district one (PD1) when hundreds of worshippers were offering prayers.
Witnesses told TOLO News that three back-to-back explosions hit the mosque, one of the biggest in Kandahar city.
Photo taken on Oct. 15, 2021 shows the site of an explosion at a mosque in Kandahar city, southern Afghanistan. (Photo by Sanaullah Seiam /Xinhua/IANS)
The Taliban government has condemned the attack.
Zabihullah Mujahid, deputy minister for the Ministry of Information and Culture, called it a “major crime”.
The UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan said that those behind the incident should be brought to justice.
Friday’s attack came exactly after a week when another Shia mosque in Kunduz city was hit by a suicide bombing which claimed the lives of at least 50 people.
(Photo: Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah/IANS)
The IS-K, a local branch of the IS, had claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the deadliest since the US forces left Afghanistan at the end of August.
Following the Taliban takeover, the security situation in Afghanistan has remained calm yet uncertain.
A series of bombings were launched by the IS affiliated militants in recent weeks.
On Thursday, a Taliban district police chief was killed and 11 people were wounded when a vehicle came under attack in Kunar province.
The evacuation was done on Saturday, just four days after India said there were no imminent plans to close its mission in Kabul and consulates in Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif, reports Asian Lite News
India has evacuated some 50 diplomats and security personnel from Kandahar in an Indian Air Force aircraft after Taliban fighters seized key areas around the southern city in Afghanistan.
The evacuation was done on Saturday, just four days after India said there were no imminent plans to close its mission in Kabul and consulates in the cities of Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif. However, officials had said that India was closely tracking the deteriorating security situation across Afghanistan and all steps will be taken to ensure that Indian officials and nationals were not put in harm’s way.
The Indian consulate in Kandahar has been temporarily closed after the diplomats, support staff and guards from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were flown out to New Delhi.
The presence of a large number of terrorists from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand is believed to have been a factor in India’s decision to pull out the diplomats and security personnel from the city. According to a recent estimate by Afghan security agencies, more than 7,000 LeT fighters are believed to be fighting alongside the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.
Kandahar has witnessed a spike in fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces since last week, with some reports saying the militants entered Kandahar city on Friday after capturing key districts surrounding it. The strategic district of Panjwai in Kandahar province fell to the Taliban last weekend, just days after US forces abandoned Bagram air base near Kabul.
Taliban fighters seized houses in Kandahar’s seventh police district on Friday, triggering fierce clashes that continued till Saturday. The Afghan military said about 70 Taliban fighters were killed in fighting in the seventh police district and nearby Dand district.
About 2,000 families from the seventh police district were displaced and forced to take refuge in other parts of Kandahar.
Kandahar, the second largest city in Afghanistan and the capital of the province of the same name, has for long been of strategic and commercial importance. It served as the headquarters of the Taliban from the mid-1990s till 2001, when the group was ousted from power by the US invasion.
New Delhi has been working on plans to ensure the safety of diplomats and some 3,000 Indian nationals in Afghanistan in view of what officials have described as a “fluid and dynamic” situation because of the intense fighting across the country. India is also keeping a close eye on steps being taken by key countries such as the US for the safety of diplomats as it weighs its options.
In April last year, India had shuttered its consulates in Herat and Jalalabad, ostensibly because of the spread of Covid-19, though some reports suggested security was a factor in the decision.
