Kabul 'safer for children than many Western cities'

LONDON. November 22. KAZINFORM Children may be safer growing up in Kabul than they are in London, Glasgow or New York, a Nato official has said; Kazinform refers to BBC News.

Mark Sedwill said the Afghan capital, as a "city of villages", was better for youngsters than many Western cities, despite dangers posed by the conflict.

The senior civilian representative told CBBC's Newsround: "Most children can go about their lives in safety."

But some Kabul youngsters spoke of their fears, and Save the Children said the claim was "wrong and misleading".

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council also said Mr Sedwill was "wrong" to include the city in his comments.

Kabul has borne the brunt of the war in Afghanistan and although the security situation there has improved of late, it is still deemed a dangerous place to live.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office website advises against all but essential travel to parts of Afghanistan, and that nobody visits the areas worst-hit by fighting.

It says Kabul has witnessed a "significant escalation in the number of suicide and rocket attacks in the last year. Since late August 2009, there have been 14 'successful' suicide attacks in the city, with at least five further suicide attacks known to have been thwarted."

Several young people interviewed by Sonali Shah, a presenter for BBC children's channel CBBC, spoke of their fear of the violence.

Sohrad, a 16-year-old student, told Newsround: "Because of explosions happening in the city, it is frightening when we come to school. We are afraid of explosions in the school."

And Manija, 11, also from Kabul, described the reality of growing up in a country at war. She said: "When there are explosions I get sad because people are dying, but the next day when they are living a normal life and celebrating I get happy"; Kazinform cites BBC News.

See www.bbc.co.uk for full version