Schools in Afghanistan saw the number of attacks triple in a year, according to UNICEF, stoking further concern of deteriorating security and access to education in the country.
According to a report released Monday, there were 192 attacks on schools in 2018, up from 68 in 2017.
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore called the attacks senseless, adding that “education is under fire” in Afghanistan.
“The killing, injury and abduction of teachers, and the threats against education, are destroying the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of children,” Fore said.
The number of attacks was previously seeing a decline up till 2015. The 2018 parliamentary elections, which led to the closure of schools to be used as voter registration and polling centers, was one factor that caused the spike in violent incidents, the report said.
According to the report, close to half of all school-aged children in Afghanistan between the ages of 7 and 17, totaling an estimated 3.7 million, do not ..