Mine Awareness Day 2023

The children were playing in the garden when the IED exploded.

They had found an old metal device that they said looked like a big bullet, and threw it away. 13-year-old Mohammad and his sister, 4-year-old Shamsia, were the closest.

They come from a poor family in a remote village in Sangin district, Afghanistan. They had no way to bring the children to our clinic, so their uncle left to rent a car. Hours after they first sustained their injuries, Mohammad and Shamsia arrived at our First Aid Post, where our 24-hour ambulance then transported them to our Surgical Centre in Lashkar-Gah.

Both will need a long time to heal.

Shamsia has had surgery to repair vascular damage from severe fractures in both legs.

Mohammad’s right arm has been amputated below the elbow, and so have the fingers on his left hand. He has further injuries to his face, eyes and legs. But, our colleagues tell us, “The very next day, Mohammad was smiling with the nurses in the ICU.”

The siblings will spend the next few months using wheelchairs, waiting for their most serious wounds to heal so that they can start to walk again.

Long after the end of conflict, the explosive legacy of war continues to threaten innocent lives. Mine action cannot wait. #IMAD2023