Afghan girls carry wooden brick molds at a brick factory on the outskirts of Balkh province, Afghanistan on July 12, 2023. (Photo by Khibar Momand/Xinhua)
BALKH, Afghanistan, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of children suffer painful labor in brick kilns on the outskirts of north Afghanistan's Balkh Province.
Amid extreme summer heat, Afghan children toil alongside their families from early morning until dusk, carrying wheelbarrows of bricks and filling mud into molds.
Child labor has increased in the brick kiln industry in Afghanistan. Although these children wish to go to school, economic challenges and life problems have caused them to miss school and become breadwinners.
An Afghan girl works at a brick factory on the outskirts of Balkh province, Afghanistan on July 12, 2023. (Photo by Khibar Momand/Xinhua)
Afghan children work at a brick factory on the outskirts of Balkh Province, Afghanistan on July 12, 2023. (Photo by Khibar Momand/Xinhua)
Afghan children work at a brick factory on the outskirts of Balkh Province, Afghanistan on July 12, 2023. (Photo by Khibar Momand/Xinhua)
Afghan girls carry clay bricks at a brick factory on the outskirts of Balkh Province, Afghanistan on July 12, 2023. (Photo by Khibar Momand/Xinhua)
Afghan children work at a brick factory on the outskirts of Balkh Province, Afghanistan on July 12, 2023. (Photo by Khibar Momand/Xinhua) ■
