Mortar shell blast kills 9 children in Afghanistan's Nangarhar

KABUL, Afghanistan

At least nine children were killed and four others wounded when a live mortar shell exploded in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar on Monday, local authorities said.

A junkman was playing with the unexploded mortar shell when it went off in the Baiganan village of Lal Pur district, the governor's office said. According to witnesses, the explosion took place near a school.

Afghanistan is among the countries with the most unexploded land mines and bombs from the country’s decades of war.

Unexploded mortar shells are still strewn across the land, and the victims are often children.