At least seven children were killed in a blast when unexploded ordnance detonated in the Laghman province on Sunday, according to the regional governor’s spokesman, Asadullah, Dawlatzai. Another ten wounded were transferred to the local hospital.
Footage shows bandaged children lying on hospital beds with their families.
According to reports, the victims are between 7 and 15 years of age and at least four of the injured are in a serious condition.
“The injuries are under treatments and they are feeling better now,” said the head of Laghman hospital Farook Sahak.
One of the children said the bomb exploded when they were playing in a field. “I was playing with my friends in an agricultural field, throwing tomatoes at each other, when suddenly my friend threw one at a stream and it hit an ordnance, which exploded and we got injured,” he recalled.
The official cause of the blast has not yet been disclosed and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.