Afghan children tell of the horrors of 13-year conflict

As British and other Nato forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan, ITV News has obtained exclusive footage showing the impact the 13-year conflict has had on the country's children.

ITV News International Affairs Editor Rageh Omaar reports:

A United Nations report found 2013 was the worst year for Afghan women, girls and boys since 2009, with the highest recorded number of women and children's deaths and injuries.

The report found conflict-related child casualties increased by 34 percent, compared to 2013 to 1,756 with 561 children killed and 1,195 injured.

Improvised explosive devices laid by the Taliban are listed as the most common cause of death an injury for women and children.

Mohammed Shafiq's two sons and a daughter were killed by a suicide bomber. They were playing outside Mohammed's shop at the time, as he visited his ill mother.

The bomber had concealed the device in a motorbike and had stopped nearby to check it when it exploded. Mr Shafiq said at that moment he "was lost".

Unable to cope with his loss, Mr Shafeeq burned the photographs of his children who died in the blast and sold their bicycles. They are buried together in a single grave.

Many child victims of the Afghan conflict are taken to Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar.

Mohammad Akhbar was injured in an explosion from a mortar or rocket that killed his brother. His younger sibling did not die in the explosion but bled to death on the 10 hour drive in the search for medical treatment.

Senior aid worker Benoit de Gryse, of Medecins Sans Frontieres, says many aid projects fail in Afghanistan because they lacked a long term, coherant vision.