"Landmines, meant to be used against soldiers in war, are devastating the lives of children at peace," Unicef executive director Carol Bellamy said Thursday, attending the first World Summit on a Mine Free World in Nairobi.

Millions of anti-personnel landmines and other explosive remnants of war across the globe pose a vicious threat to children, who are being injured, killed and orphaned by them long after wars are over.

"Landmines are a deadly attraction for children whose innate curiosity and need for play often lure them directly into harm's way," Bellamy said.

Over 80 percent of the 15,000 to 20,000 landmine victims each year are civilians and at least one in five are children, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).

Since the Mine Ban Treaty went into force five years ago, 143 states have ratified the treaty, which prohibits signatories from using, stockpiling, producing or transferring landmines.

Despite progress, some of the largest holders of landmines - Russia, China, India and the US - have yet to commit themselves to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Bellamy called on these countries to join the Mine Ban Treaty, immediately cease production and do more to assist those whose lives have been disrupted by landmines.

Producing one landmine costs $3, yet once in the ground it can cost more than $1,000 to find and destroy, according to the ICBL.

The deadly legacy of landmines far outlasts the conflicts that that gave rise to them. Among the most contaminated countries are Iraq, Cambodia, Afghanistan Colombia and Angola.

The countries in Asia, for instance, contain some of the most heavily mine-affected countries in the world.

-Indo-Asian News Service