KABUL - Up to 40,000 children in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand are said to be involved in harsh physical labor, officials at the provincial headquarters of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on Saturday.

Abdul Aziz Akrami, a member of the AIHRC in Kandahar, has said that child labor is on the rise in southern Afghanistan. "We are quite concerned about the increase of child labor," he told TOLOnews. "Currently, more than 40,000 children in Kandahar and Helmand provinces are engaged to heavy labor."

According to experts and local residents, the economic struggles and the worsening security situation are behind the new trend. TOLOnews interviewed a number of child laborers in Kandahar province, and their explanation for their works was the desperate need to support their families.

"I work in a workshop and receive a 100 Afs a day to support my family," an eleven-year-old named Farzad said.

"My father is quite weak and I am helping him work," another child laborer named Ahmadullah said. "I wash the cars and handover the money I receive to him."

Afghanistan is a harsh place to grow up for many children. In addition to the uncertainty and upheavals resulting from insecurity an political instability, the underdeveloped economy means many are deprived of schooling and forced to work low-wage jobs at an early age. (Tolonews)