Maryam was shopping with her mum and grandma in the market. They were choosing vegetables to make something tasty for dinner, when there was a giant flash as bright as the sun. The ground shook with a frightening boom. Shards of metal shot through the air as fast as bullets.
Then there was silence.
And after that, what sounded like rain, as debris pattered all around, mingled with smoke and moans. Maryam didn’t know it at the time, but her grandma was dead. She couldn’t feel her leg, and her mum was nowhere to be seen.
Maryam’s right leg was mutilated and doctors had to amputate it to save her life. Her mum was also badly injured – her skull had been broken and her right eye destroyed by shrapnel.
Every year, tens of thousands of civilians, including children like Maryam, are killed or injured by the use of explosive weapons in cities and towns. In Syria alone, more than 2 million children are at risk, living in fear of bombing attacks and unexploded weapons left behind, like deadly buried treasure.
Explosive weapons include mortars, rockets, missiles, artillery shells, and air-dropped bombs. They also include landmines and cluster munitions, both of which are banned by international treaties. Using explosive weapons in populated areas is against International Law. Urgent action is needed to protect children and families!
