Two children killed, three injured in Syria mine explosions

Two children were killed and three injured in mine explosions in the Syrian provinces of Raqqa and Idlib on Saturday night.

The “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently” Facebook page said that a mine exploded in the Wadi Sayel area of western Raqqa province, which was formerly under the control of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, killing two children instantly.

Three more children were injured after a mine exploded near the town of Nairab in rebel-held Idlib province, while they were picking flowers from caper plants.

Many poverty-stricken Syrian families send their children to gather these flowers, which are used in the medical industry, and sell them in order to earn money.

However, children in areas outside the regime’s control are often injured by unexploded ordnance as a result. Thousands of civilians have been killed in similar explosions in Syria, particularly in rebel-held areas and areas formerly under the control of IS.

IS lost all its territory in eastern Syria in March 2019 following a US-backed military campaign by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) but IS cells remain active in the Syrian desert.

Elsewhere in Syria on Sunday, regime shelling of the rebel-held village of Tal Wasit in western Hama province killed a man and a woman, while 13 civilians were injured in Afrin, which is controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian fighters, when a roadside bomb exploded under the car of a commander from the “Levant Brigade” armed group.

In Daraa province, which was formerly held by rebels and fell under regime control in 2018, a regime military officer inspecting polling stations during regime-sponsored parliamentary elections was killed when unknown assailants opened fire on him with machine guns.

More than 500,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, which broke out in 2011 following the brutal suppression of protests by the Assad regime.

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