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The direct and reverberating impact of IEDs on children in Afghanistan

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Afghanistan
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AOAV
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After almost 19 years of ongoing conflict, Afghanistan has become one of thedeadliest countries in the world. Alongside the thousands of Afghan governmental and coalition force fatalities, and the disturbingly increasing numbers of adult civilian casualties, children are severely impacted by the ongoing violence.

According to UNAMA, the Afghan conflict remains the world’s deadliest conflict for children. In 2018 alone, 927 children were killed due to the conflict and 2,135 children were injured there. Most of the civilian casualties occurred in Kabul, a stark reality that goes alongside the large number of complex and high-profile attacks with Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED) and suicide bombers there.

In 2019, UNAMA monitored a slight increase of child casualties (3,149 casualties) compared to 2018. And though the main cause of child casualties remains from ground engagements (39%), the imperative for this paper emerged from the fact that 33% of child casualties there were caused by suicide (15%) and non-suicide (18%) IEDs.

The types of IEDs that cause child casualties in Afghanistan appears often dependent on the geographic location of the attack. A comparison of ACLED reports on child casualties from IED attacks with UNODC data on the ‘security situation’ in Afghanistan, shows that child casualties in rural (insurgent controlled) areas are mostly caused by Victim Operated IEDs (VOIEDs), whereas child casualties in urban (governmental controlled) areas are mostly from suicide bombers or complex IED attacks.

The reason for these rural VOIEDs (also known sometimes as ‘artisanal’ or improvised landmines) is the defensive strategies of the insurgency in its controlled areas, mainly the areas with high numbers of poppy cultivation, likely including local Taliban HQs. In order to prevent governmental intervention against poppy fields and narcotics factories, the Taliban puts VOIEDs (usually pressure plates) on the access routes around their facilities. This tactic poses significant danger to children playing in the streets and walking to school. So, even though the Taliban claims to focus on the reduction of civilian casualties, it still accepts the high risk of child casualties by using indiscriminative measures in its fight against the government.

Even though the number of VOIEDs is higher than the amount of suicide attacks or VBIEDs, the latter IED types cause substantially higher casualties. VBIEDs and suicide attacks are also more common in the bigger cities in Afghanistan where a higher population density resides. The use of such devastating and headline-grabbing means, such as VBIEDs and suicide attackers, is also intended to have execute the so-called ‘propaganda of the deed’, having political and media impact.

Clearly little care or planning goes into ensuring children are not caught up in these attacks. On 1 July 2019, the Taliban executed a complex attack against the Afghan Ministry of Defense in Kabul. The location of a school on the ground floor of the facilityled to at least 52 child casualties. A few days later, on 7 July 2019, the Taliban executed a suicide VBIED attack on a National Directorate of Security (NDS) compound in Ghazni City. The location of three schools in the close proximity of the compound led to 85 child casualties. Indeed, it could be that the death of children in such attacks is part of the strategic plan – to sow division, cause outrage and lead to division.

The situation is further complicated by the numerous attacks on schools and health facilities in Afghanistan – all of which have a major impact on children and their development. The 2019 Afghan presidential election period has witnessed a peak in targeted attacks against such facilities. The main reason for such attacks is the ongoing use of government-owned schools and health facilities as polling centers, despite the repeated recommendations by the UN to use mosques instead. Even though the schools cancel all classes a few days prior to the Election Day to reduce child casualties, the damage inflicted to the facilities has a long-term impact on children’s access to education and health care. Moreover, the Taliban claims to warn all civilians not to participate in any election activities, consequently ‘justifying’ its indiscriminative counter-election policy that caused 458 civilian casualties in 2019 (85 deaths, 373 injured).

The Taliban, in general, claims it does not directly target civilians in high profile attacks, however it disregards potential civilian casualties while planning and executing an attack against governmental or coalition forces’ facilities. Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), in the other hand, definitely does not discriminate governmental targets from civilian. One of the main targets of ISKP in Afghanistan is the Shi’a Muslim community, which is significantly represented among the Hazara tribal population. These attacks are targeted specifically at such ethnic groups and cause high numbers of civilian casualties, including children. On 17 august 2019, ISKP executed a suicide attack during a Shi’a wedding ceremony in Kabul, causing 50 child casualties.

The use of IEDs by armed groups in Afghanistan also includes the attempt of these groups to recruit children to execute suicide attacks. These recruitment efforts mainly occur in madrasas and mosques where Mullahs affiliated to armed groups influence children with a violent interpretation of Islamic teachings. Indeed, ISKP focusses on underage children as young as three years old to start indoctrination by brainwashing for suicide missions. There are two main reasons why children get recruited to conduct suicide attacks; first, and foremost, children are more receptive to brainwashing and indoctrination techniques. Children are especially vulnerable to promises related to the afterlife, with typical elements of Islamic eschatology. Second, the perception of children as innocent and harmless can be exploited by armed groups to facilitate the infiltration into vital governmental areas to conduct IED attacks. Children are less targeted by security forces for security checks and can more easily smuggle an IED into a targeted area. In 2019, AOAV documented two confirmed cases of children being used to conduct a suicide attack; on 12 July, a child suicide bomber targeted a wedding party in Nangarhar, causing 45 civilian casualties. On 2 September, a child suicide bomber targeted the Afghan police in Kunduz City, causing 33 police, and 10 civilian casualties.

Impact

In a survey conducted by Save the Children in Afghanistan, the effect of the high number of IED attacks has almost certainly impacted the population’s perception of child safety in Afghanistan. Indeed, the ongoing violence and uncertainty due to indiscriminative IED attacks not only cause physical harm to children, but also brings psychological harm too. The survey showed that 73% of Afghan children surveyed suffered from long-term fearfulness and anxiety, and 48% suffered from prolonged sadness and sleep disturbance.

While armed ground clashes between governmental and anti-government forces remain the main cause for child casualties and consequently for child insecurity, 49% of the Kabul population perceives suicide bombings as the major threat to child safety. As documented by AOAV, due to the male-dominated street life in Afghanistan, boys are most affected by the ongoing threats. Indeed, the increased likelihood of boys to start working at a young age and the conservative Islamic limitations for girls to attend school or go outside alone, leads to a higher exposure of boys to the constant IED threat. The high numbers of civilian casualties also indicate the loss of breadwinners within Afghan families, consequently forcing young boys and girls to quit school and help with the financial support to the family.

On 29 February 2020, the U.S. and the Taliban officially signed the ‘Agreement for bringing peace to Afghanistan’ in Doha, Qatar. In case this peace agreement between the Taliban and the U.S. leads to a long-term reduction in violence and the subsequent intra-Afghan talks cause an integration of the Taliban into the government, a short-term decrease of IED attacks is expected. However, it is also assessed that the Taliban could partially splinter when the peace deal has impact, possibly leading to intra-Taliban fighting. It cannot be excluded that an intra-Afghan power struggle, similar to the post-Soviet civil war, will lead to a continuation of violence within the country.

These hypotheses will particularly deteriorate the security situation for Afghan children due to the probable drawdown of coalition troops within the next 14 months. In addition, there is also threatened loss of a major military medical capacity in Afghanistan that conducts pediatric trauma care. The presence of military medical facilities in this war-torn country has proven to be of high value to the immediate treatment of blast trauma of children, consequently leading to a higher chance of survival for child casualties.

Overall, the use of IEDs has impacted children in Afghanistan in terrible and profound ways. There has been the direct death and injury of children. There has been the damage to schools and medical facilities where children can find learning and health assistance. There have been the untold and deep psychological impacts that IEDs can bring, devastating childhoods and rupturing innocence.

Despite such horrors, the impact of IEDs on children is a little-discussed topic and the responses to such harm is under-funded, under-researched and under-prioritised. It is hoped this briefing document can focus minds and intentions to address this horror.

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