At least seven people, including five children, were killed and four others wounded after an unexploded artillery shell detonated in eastern Paktika Province, Taliban said on Tuesday.
The explosion occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Monday in the village of Dangar Lagad in Barmal district, according to a statement from the Taliban police command in Paktika.
The statement said the shell, a remnant of past conflicts, exploded after a resident collecting scrap materials attempted to open it and repurpose the metal.
Two adult men and five children were killed in the blast, Taliban authorities said. The four injured victims were transferred to a hospital for treatment.
The incident underscores the continuing danger posed by unexploded ordnance and land mines left behind after decades of war in Afghanistan, where civilians — particularly children — remain among the most frequent victims.
According to the Taliban-run National Disaster Management Authority, at least 87 people were killed in explosions and other incidents involving land mines and unexploded ordnance across Afghanistan during the previous solar year.
The agency said it recorded about 193 incidents related to unexploded explosives and war remnants during the year, leaving at least 333 people injured.
Yousuf Hamad, the Taliban spokesman for the ANDMA, said at the time that children accounted for approximately 67 percent of all casualties.
Humanitarian organizations have repeatedly warned that unexploded munitions continue to pose a major threat across Afghanistan, particularly in rural areas where many residents collect scrap metal or children encounter explosive remnants while playing.
