, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, 14 June 2010

EXCERPT: "In 2009, at least 346 children were killed in aerial strikes and search-and-raid operations by international special forces as well as by assassinations and suicide bombings by anti-government elements. In addition, landmines, explosive remnants of war and other explosives have killed or severely injured hundreds of children, particularly boys who play outside, tend animals, or collect food, water or wood. Armed groups have also damaged and destroyed schools, targeting students (especially girls), teachers and others who are seen as supportive of Afghanistan's education system. Thousands of Afghan families have been forced to flee their homes due to armed conflict and economic hardships. More than half of the country's internally displaced ? approximately 161,000 people ? are children; an additional 1.5 million children are refugees in Pakistan and Iran. Despite some progress in expanding basic health services to a wide population, infant and maternal mortality is alarmingly high. Afghanistan remains the worst place in the world for a newborn child, according to child protection agencies."

Read the entire [pdf].

Related articles:
Afghan girls sick in "gas attack", Al Jazeera, 13 June 2010
Taleban hang 7-year-old boy to punish family, Times Online, 11 June 2010
British plans to expel Afghan child refugees under attack, Sify, 8 June 2010
UN reaches 1.2 million Afghan children with polio vaccine after nearby outbreak, UN News Centre, 7 June 2010

Related resources:
Trees only move in the wind: A study of unaccompanied Afghan children in Europe, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 14 June 2010
, The Huffington Post, 14 June 2010

Related posts:
UN urges steps to prevent child deaths in conflict, 24 February 2010
2009 worst year for Afghan children: ARM, 6 January 2010
Attacks on schools on the rise: report, 23 November 2009
Insecurity harming child health, education: UNICEF, 20 May 2009