Deminers appeal to interim authority for support

Afghan mine clearing agencies have called on the new interim authority and the international community to prioritise mine clearance in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. The agencies say they need help with training, security and long-term funding.

"Mine action should be included in the national reconstruction plan and sufficient funding should be provided," Alhaj Fazl Karim Fazal, of the Afghan Campaign to Ban Land Mines (ACBL), told IRIN on Friday from the Pakistani city of Peshawar. He stressed that relief work would not be possible without clearing unexploded ordnance [UXO] as well as millions of mines.

Afghan mine clearance programmes ground to a halt following the start of the US-led military campaign on 7 October. Local mine clearance agencies are now beginning to resume operations but say they are worried about security. "Our staff need secure working conditions, long term funding, new equipment and training in handling advanced UXO to clear Afghanistan from land mines," Fazal said.

Afghan NGOs attending a three-day reconstruction conference in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, have called for more than US $500 million to clear an estimated eight to ten million land mines and UXOs. Such a mammoth operation would take between 10 to 12 years, agencies estimate.

But Dan Kelly, programme manager for the Mine Action Centre For Afghanistan, said the estimated figure of US$ 500 million was not based on any statistics. "As part of the UNDP, World Bank analysis, the Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan (MAPA), is preparing multi-year plans for mine clearance," he said.

Kelly said the priority would be to clear roads and civic facilities in order to facilitate aid operations, set to start soon, and the return of displaced people.

Some 6,000 unexploded and highly volatile cluster bombs are thought to be on the ground in Afghanistan as a result of the US bombing and Kelly said there were incidents of people being injured by these weapons but no figures were available.

"MACA has trained some 60 percent of the 4000 Afghan deminers in identifying such munitions," he said, adding that that they were supporting the ABCL to work on a new strategy with the interim administration.