As reported by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 19 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed when the vehicles in which they were travelling triggered an improvised explosive device (IED), which then exploded.

The first incident, on the 29th of September in the Baghdis province, involved an Afghan family who was returning home from lunch when the car in which they were travelling likewise triggered  a pressure-plate IED. The IED detonated and they were all killed. The following day, in Helmand, the tragedy repeated itself causing the loss of ten lives--all individuals fleeing the area due to clashes between governmental security forces and opposition militia.  

As pointed out by the Head of UNAMA, the use of these devices is not only intolerable, for the amount of terror they spread among civilian populations, but also indiscriminate and illegal from the international humanitarian law standpoint. The use of anti-personnel mines (to which IED’s can be compared) is, in fact, prohibited by the law of armed conflicts.

In front of these repeated attacks, the government commitment to guarantee the physical security of civilians from insurgent attacks is vital.  

For more information, please read:

http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2016-10/02/content_39418531.htm
https://unama.unmissions.org/unama-condemns-killing-19-civilians-pressure-plate-ied-incidents
http://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/article/2016/10/04/le-gouvernement-afghan-incapable-de-securiser-son-territoire_5007935_3216.html?xtmc=helmand&xtcr=1
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/10/consensus-afghanistan-deal-taliban-161003100623830.html