A/67/256 be developed alongside the guidelines. As a first step, the designation of a focal point on children and armed conflict should be considered. C. Explosive weapons 59. Explosive weapons, defined as weapons that cause injury, death or damage by projecting explosive blast, and often fragmentation, from the detonation of an explosive device, have a devastating impact on civilians, including children, especially when used in highly populated areas. Such weapons, which include airdropped bombs, grenades, landmines, improvised explosive devices and mortars, tend to have effects that users cannot foresee or control accurately and therefore carry a great risk of being indiscriminate in their impact. 60. The use of explosive weapons by armed forces and groups often results in the commission of violations against children, including the injury, maiming and killing of children, the recruitment of children as suicide and victim bombers, the damaging and/or destruction of civilian installations such as schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access, for example through the planting of landmines. They also cause long-lasting harm by damaging children’s emotional stability, education and future opportunities. 61. Explosive weapons with wide-area effect, such as multiple-launch rockets, high-explosive artillery, mortars, car bombs and other improvised explosive devices, are a particular cause for concern. In 2011, mortar and artillery shells, which are indiscriminate weapons traditionally used against massed infantry, killed and injured children in Libya, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic, among others. In Afghanistan and Iraq, there has been an increasing number of complex attacks involving the combination of two or more attacks on one target using explosive weapons by armed groups. These attacks, usually perpetrated against Government institutions, resulted in significant child casualties. Aerial bombardments and drone attacks in countries such as Pakistan and Yemen have also killed and injured children. 62. In most of the 23 country situations reflected in the report of the SecretaryGeneral on children and armed conflict covering the period from January to December 2011 (A/66/782-S/2012/261), explosive weapons were used in direct physical attacks against schools and hospitals, a grave violation of children’s rights. They posed a threat to children and medical and educational personnel, resulting in the forced closure or the compromised functioning of those institutions. In some country situations, children were denied humanitarian access because of the presence of explosive remnants of war from previous conflicts. 63. In 2011, 22 incidents were reported of children being used by armed groups to carry out suicide attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including one 8-year-old girl and one 9-year-old girl. Some of those children were victim bombers, unknowingly carrying explosive packages. 64. While recognition of the distinct problems associated with explosive weapons has grown over time, there is a need for further policy attention and immediate action to effectively protect children from such weapons. There is also a need for greater acknowledgement that the use of such weapons, especially those with widearea effect and those used in densely populated areas, severely harm children and 16 12-45308