At least two people were killed and four others injured in separate explosions involving unexploded ordnance in eastern and central Afghanistan, Taliban officials said, underscoring the continuing threat posed by remnants of decades of conflict.
In the eastern province of Nangarhar, a child was killed and another injured after an explosive remnant detonated while the two were playing nearby, according to the Taliban police command in the province.
The Taliban police command said the children had touched the device before it exploded. The injured child was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
In a separate incident in Parwan province, one person was killed and three others wounded after unexploded ammunition detonated in Bagram district, Taliban police said.
According to a statement, the blast occurred when a 20-year-old man attempted to open a piece of unexploded ordnance. The incident took place on Monday afternoon, May 5.
The explosions add to a growing toll from land mines and unexploded ordnance across Afghanistan, one of the world’s most heavily contaminated countries after more than four decades of war.
According to data released by the Taliban-run National Disaster Management Authority in April, at least 96 people were killed and 328 injured in mine and unexploded ordnance incidents between April 2025 and March 2026.
The agency recorded 225 such incidents during that period, resulting in 474 casualties overall. Children accounted for the majority of victims, with 321 children affected compared with 153 adults.
Kunar province recorded the highest number of incidents, followed by Farah, while Nangarhar, Herat and Kandahar also reported significant numbers of cases.
Aid organizations and demining agencies have long warned that children are particularly vulnerable, often mistaking unexploded devices for toys or scrap metal.
The ANDMA said demining teams cleared more than 94 square kilometers of contaminated land over the past year and destroyed more than 45,000 explosive remnants. But it warned that mine-clearing operations have been severely affected by declining international funding.
Afghanistan remains heavily littered with mines and unexploded ordnance left behind by successive conflicts, including the Soviet war, civil war, the US-led military campaign and the Taliban insurgency.
For many rural communities, the explosives continue to pose a daily danger, limiting access to farmland and placing children at constant risk.
