Yet Another Massacre of Schoolchildren

Trey Smith

On the heels of the Newtown, CT murders, we learned of another massacre of schoolchildren. This one didn't involve a crazed gunman and it didn't happen inside a school. The victims here were all girls. I wonder if it will receive the same amount of media coverage since it didn't take place in the States.

A forgotten Soviet-era landmine has killed 10 Afghan schoolgirls and seriously injured another in a grim reminder of the ongoing impact of decades of war on the country.

The girls, all under 12, spent their mornings collecting wood to help their families through the bitter winter, and went to school in eastern Nangarhar province in the afternoon.

They unwittingly gathered round a long-buried landmine, splitting logs with a small hatchet, when the blows detonated the old explosives, said provincial police chief General Abdullah Stanekzai. "The bomb was from Russian times, and the girls were collecting wood and trying to break the wood, but underneath it was the bomb," Stanekzai said.

Nine died instantly and one other died in hospital, where an 11th girl is battling for her life. Just one of the group escaped unharmed. "We found another two bombs at the site and defused them," Stanekzai added.

The bomb went off in an area of low, forested slopes where the girls gathered wood every morning, said the spokesman for Nangarhar province Ahmad Zia Ahmadzai, who confirmed the death toll.

Events like these DO show that guns aren't always the culprit when it comes to the deaths of schoolchildren.  I suppose we can now add a new phrase to the lexicon: Landmines don't kill people, people kill people.

Who knows how many landmines have been planted in Afghanistan and other war-torn areas.   We may not know the number, but we do know it is a "gift" that keeps on giving!  Every year thousands die merely going about their routine business -- completely oblivious to the deadly seeds buried beneath their feet.  These unfortunate girls had no idea they were splitting wood over a British-made anti-tank landmine.

It is interesting to note that, while he has pledged to support gun control legislation, President Obama has steadfastly refused to sign the international treaty against landmines.  Guns kill American schoolchildren, landmines don't.