Rise in attacks on Afghan schools alarming: UNICEF

KABUL, Afghanistan

A latest UNICEF report has pointed out alarming rise in the attacks on schools in the war-torn Afghanistan.

The report released on Tuesday has counted around 200 attacks on schools last year alone, thereby cutting children’s access to education amid worsening security situation.

Attacks on schools have surged from 68 in 2017 to 192 in 2018. Further, more than 1,000 schools were closed by the end of last year, denying half a million children their right to education.

“Education is under fire in Afghanistan. The senseless attacks on schools; the killing, injury and abduction of teachers; and the threats against education are destroying the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

The report believed that one reason for the increase in the attacks was that schools were being used as voter registration and polling centers for the parliamentary elections in 2018.

In its special report titled “2018 Elections Violence”, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) noted last year the Taliban had launched a deliberate campaign of violence and intimidation to disrupt elections. The report verified a total of 435 civilian casualties (56 deaths and 379 injured) during the campaign.

According to the UNICEF report, an estimated 3.7 million children between the ages of 7 and 17 – nearly half of all school-aged children in the country – are out of school in Afghanistan.

It also blamed insecurity, poverty and discrimination against girls -- who make up about 60 percent of children not in education.

Last month, gunmen blew up a girls' school in western Farah province. The incident followed the killing of a school teacher in northern Faryab province earlier this month.