KABUL (SW): Officials at the United Nations said that Afghanistan would be fully cleared of landmines by 2023.
Mark Bowden, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator, told journalists here on Sunday that they would never leave Afghanistan alone no matter what.
Wais Ahmad Barmak, the State Minister for Disaster Management Commission, who was also present at the press conference, said that 77 percent of the country has been cleared of landmines so far.
He added that landmines and ordinance left from several years of war in the country, continue to take 112 lives each year.
Reports suggest that more than 1 million landmines have been estimated to exist in 4200 areas throughout 1570 villages in the country.
Officials said that although they would not spare any effort to clear the landmines left from war era but some groups create challenges to the activities of de-miners.
They added that in the current year there have been 258 cases of different attacks against de-miners as a result which 88 de-miners have been killed and 128 more have been injured.
ENDS
