Due to the fierce fighting between the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan at least 27 children have been killed – said the UN.

Unicef is a UN agency for children that said it was shocked by the “rapid escalation of grave violations against children”.

The Taliban have been making major advances across the country as foreign troops withdraw, taking at least six regional capitals since Friday.

Moreover, they have rejected international calls for a truce.

On Monday, Unicef gave a statement saying the slaughters being committed against kids were rising “higher by the day”.

A death toll of 27 was recorded in three provinces – – Kandahar, Khost, and Paktia. 

Also, about 136 children were injured in these areas over the past three days said Unicef.

“These are not numbers. Each one of these deaths and each case of physical suffering is a personal tragedy,” the group’s Afghanistan representative Hervé Ludovic De Lys said in the statement. 

“These children are much loved and longed-for daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, cousins and friends. All of them are children whose right to protection, under international humanitarian law, has been disregarded by warring parties.”

The UN agency called on all sides to ensure that children are protected.

What is the latest conflict about?

The situation in Afghanistan worsened when the US forces have withdrawn following 20 years of military operations.

Due to this, the Taliban rapidly captured huge swathes of countryside. And now they are targeting towns and cities.

According to recent reports, they have flooded the northern city of Kunduz.

The city of 270,000 people is considered a doorway to mineral-rich northern provinces. 

And the location is very important strategically as it is close to Tajikistan’s border. This part of the country is used to smuggle opium and heroin.

It also holds symbolic implications for the Taliban because it was a crucial northern grip before 2001. 

The militants seized the city in 2015 and again in 2016 but have never been able to hold it for long.

Afghan officials say security forces are still fighting in the city.

Many revolutionaries have also filled the northern cities of Sar-e-Pul and Taloqan.

As per the current reports, the northern city of Aybak may have also fallen to the Taliban on Monday.

The revolutionaries entered Aybak, the capital of Samangan province, without a fight after community elders asked for the city to be spared more violence, deputy governor Sefatullah Samangani told the AFP news agency.

“The governor accepted and withdrew all the forces from the city,” he said.

Heavy fighting has been reported in Pul-e-Khumri and Mazar-e-Sharif, a trading hub on the border with Uzbekistan.