Syria explosive remnants kill nearly 30 in a month — monitor

By AFP - Apr 07,2022 - Last updated at Apr 07,2022

Displaced Syrian children return to their tents with boxes of food distributed by a local charity organisation, before iftar (the fast breaking meal at sunset during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan) at a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of the rebel-held town of Dana, east of the Turkish-Syrian border in the north-western Idlib province, on Sunday (AFP photo)

BEIRUT — Explosive remnants of Syria's war killed nearly 30 civilians, including more than a dozen children, last month, a war monitoring group said on Wednesday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "29 civilians, including 12 children, died from explosive remnants in March" and that another 29 were wounded.

The latest toll brings to 73 the total number of people killed by explosive remnants since the start of the year, according to the monitor, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria.

Explosives left by all sides in fields, along roads or even in buildings in Syria's decade-long conflict have wounded thousands of civilians and killed hundreds of others.

Across the country, one in three communities are thought to be contaminated by explosive ordnance, says the United Nations.

In 2020, Syria overtook Afghanistan as the country with the highest number of recorded casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war, with 2,729 people killed or wounded, according to the Landmine Monitor.

In 2021, 241 civilians were killed and 128 wounded by explosive remnants across Syria, said the observatory.

Syria’s war is estimated to have killed nearly half-a-million people and displaced millions since it began in 2011.

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