Attacks against Afghan schools soar, says UNICEF

The number of attacks on schools in Afghanistan nearly tripled last year, UNICEF said Tuesday, cutting children's access to education amid worsening security in the war-torn nation.

Attacks on Afghan schools increased from 68 in 2017 to 192 in 2018, the first increase in such incidents since 2015.

Afghanistan's ongoing war, now in its 18th year, resulted in more than 1,000 schools being closed by the end 2018, UNICEF said, depriving some 500,000 children of their right to learning.

"Education is under fire in Afghanistan," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement.

"The senseless attacks on schools; the killing, injury and abduction of teachers; and the threats against education are destroying the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of children."

Using schools as voter registration centres for parliamentary elections last year was one factor in the increase in attacks, UNICEF said.

About 3.7 million school children between the ages of seven and 17 -- accounting