The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) sounded the alarm on Tuesday over the ongoing threat of unexploded ordnance (UXO) to millions of children in Syria.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, Ricardo Pires, UNICEF's Communication Manager for Emergencies, stated that last December alone, 116 children were killed or injured by UXO -- an average of nearly four per day.
The UNICEF official said that in the last nine years, at least 422,000 incidents involving UXO were reported across Syria, with half estimated to have ended in tragic child casualties. Currently, around five million Syrian children still live in areas ridden by these hazards.
"It's the main cause of child casualties in Syria right now and has been for many years, and will continue to be because the ground continues to be infested, infested and contaminated. Over 300,000 mines are still spread across the country," Pires said.
Since November of last year, more than 250,000 Syrian children have been forced to flee their homes, according to the official.
With UXO scattered across Syria, the danger to children is ever-present, which has seen UNICEF calling for swift and decisive international action, including accelerated demining initiatives, to protect these vulnerable children.
UNICEF calls for urgent action to tackle unexploded ordnance threat to children in Syria
UNICEF calls for urgent action to tackle unexploded ordnance threat to children in Syria
At least 33 people were killed and more than 39 wounded in airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition near Yemen's capital Sanaa, according to a Sunday social media post by Anees al-Asbahi, spokesman for the Houthi-run health authorities.
Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported Saturday that Saudi airstrikes hit Al-Shariya Village east of Sanaa, destroying several residential buildings and causing dozens of casualties.
The report also said that Saudi warplanes subsequently launched several more airstrikes, targeting rescue workers and bombing the roads leading to the village.
The Saudi side has not yet responded to these allegations.
Search and rescue operations began shortly after the strikes, though progress remained slow.
"Many victims are still trapped under the rubble, mainly because warplanes keep circling overhead. We cannot confirm an exact casualty toll; we estimate there may be more than 60. Thirteen children and four women were inside this building. Only a few have been pulled out, and over 10 of them remain buried inside," rescuer Zakaria Al-Gharbi told a China Media Group reporter on Saturday.
By the time of the interview, the village had already come under four rounds of airstrikes totaling nine attacks. Some rescuers and civil defense personnel were also targeted.
More than an hour had passed since the last strike, yet warplanes could still be heard overhead, forcing search-and-rescue and clearance work to be temporarily halted.
On Saturday evening, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement on social media platform X that Saudi forces had carried out 105 airstrikes and missile attacks on Sanaa and seven other Yemeni provinces over the past 24 hours, claiming dozens of casualties, mostly women and children.
According to the spokesman, the latest airstrikes have brought the total number of Saudi air operations since the escalation began to 4,369.
Saudi airstrikes kill at least 33 in Yemeni village
