Three brothers lost their lives in the Tank district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) on Friday after a bomb they mistook for a toy went off inside their home.
Waheed, Nasir, and Farman were between 6 and 12 years of age. Reportedly, they found the grenade in a drain and brought it home thinking it was a toy.
The incident happened in the Mehsud Keruna area of village Nasran, and Law enforcement agency told that the bodies of the brothers were shifted to the district headquarters hospital.
The area has been cordoned off by the police and an investigation has been initiated.
It is worth mentioning that this is not an isolated incident, and many times, the innocent lives of Northwestern Pakistan have succumbed to the deadly devices mistaking them for toys.
Recently, on 2nd June, three children were killed and another two injured in a hand grenade explosion in Killi Badezai area of Quetta.
Aged between 10 and 14 years, the children found the grenade at a graveyard. It exploded while they were playing with it. The bodies and injured were shifted to the Bolan Medical Complex Hospital.
Not more than a year ago, on 21st July 2020, a bomb resembling a toy injured at least five children in Pakistan. This bomb too exploded when the children were playing with it in the South Waziristan district.
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Tribune reported that in 2018, a young woman was critically injured after a bomb, brought home by children mistaking it for a toy, went off in the North Waziristan Agency. According to sources, children found the bomb lying in the field near Zakir Khel area of District Mir Ali and brought it home assuming it to be a toy.
Hospital sources said that they had to amputate the girl’s hands due to the injuries sustained during the blast.
These are only a few of the stories, and if the history is researched, it would only bring to light further dark realities of these grenades and other killer devices taking of war taking innocent lives in Pakistan.