KABUL (SW) – Officials say that Ghazni, Zabul, Helmand, Kandahar, Kunar, Nuristan, Paktia and Paktika have the most of unexploded explosives left over from the previous wars, which every now and then claim lives.
Nooruddin Rostamkhel, head of mine clearance coordination at the State Ministry of Disasters Management, told Salam Watandar that there are now 1,500 square kilometers of unexploded ordnance areas in Afghanistan, which require 50 million dollars annually to clear.
“Currently, the ground for clearing the mines has been prepared, and we need 50 million dollars annually to clear the 1,500 square kilometers of the uncleared area.”
According to officials, at least three international non-government organizations and six domestic institutions with 6,000 employees in 27 provinces are engaged in demining and clearing areas of unexploded ordnances.
A number of families of the victims of the these mines say that unexploded materials still threaten their health and lives.
Gholam Sakhi, a resident of Faryab, who lost a child from his family three days ago, said: “Unexploded mines killed a child of our family three days ago in Elmar district, and we ask the Islamic Emirate to clean the unexploded mines”.
Gul Ahmed, a resident of Hemland, said: “Our request from the Islamic Emirate is to clean the areas contaminated by unexploded materials as it poses threats to our lives and our livestock as well”.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) said on Monday that Afghanistan is the most polluted country in the world in terms of the presence of unexploded mines. It should be noted that earlier, the Ministry of Disaster Management had said that in the past year, 1,440 people have been killed and injured due to mines in different provinces.
ENDS
