Syria’s war-torn terrain still claims the lives of innocent people, children, to be precise, having been killed or maimed by at least 188 by leftover landmines and unexploded ordnance since December, as per Save the Children report.
More than 60 children from this toll have died, UK-based humanitarian group reported on Thursday. The group warns however that this number could increase as more families return to their destroyed homeland following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad on December 8.
Syria’s 13-year war has left Syria packed with killer remnants of conflict. Since Assad’s ousting, as many as 628 casualties have been recorded from explosive hazards, coming close to two-thirds of last year’s number of casualties. 
A UN report found that almost 1.2 million people, including nearly 885,000 internally displaced individuals, might have returned to Syria in the past three months. But they are still a looming threat to these families as for example explosives are left unremoved from cities and rural areas.
Bujar Hoxha, Save the Children’s Syria Country director, highlighted the necessity of clearing mines, saying, “Every day, two children are killed or injured. Immediate action is critical.”
Humanitarian groups have pushed Syria’s transitional government and international funders to speed up mine clearance to avert more tragedies in a country still scarred by war’s lethal legacy.
