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According to the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC), Afghanistan is one of the most mine-infested
countries in the world. One survey found that 13.6 per cent of families
interviewed were involved in a mine incident. Another estimated that 20-25
people are injured or killed by mines daily in Afghanistan, leading to
about 8,000 deaths per year.
During the conflict
between the mujaheedin and the Soviet and Afghan communist forces both
sides laid mines. The battles for Kabul since 1992 and for Herat in 1995
have led to the placement of mines in new places. Indeed, the UN Department
of Humanitarian Affairs reports that "Afghanistan has the largest
collection of land mines in the world: at least 50 different types ...."
77 In addition, fighters have learned how to make mines from the vast
quantities of unexploded ordnance to be found around the country. Mines
and unexploded ordnance were placed in almost every conceivable type of
terrain in Afghanistan.... [M]ines were most usually deployed along unused
footpaths, tracks and roads; on the verges of tracks and roadways; in
vehicle turn-around points; near culverts and bridge abutments; along
damaged building walls; in the doorways and rooms of deserted houses;
in and around wells and access points; around military posts; on or near
destroyed vehicles; in areas where people might hide.
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By very rough estimates, there are about 8 million anti-personnel and
2 million anti-tank mines in Afghanistan. As of early 1996, about 110,000
mines and 216,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance had been reported as cleared,
mainly by the UN's demining program. Soviet and Afghan government forces
mapped the mines they laid by hand, while the Mujaheedin did not. None
of the forces now fighting appears, however, to map their mines.
The bombing by the
US in 2001 has compounded this issue with the dropping of over 5000 cluster
bombs (bombs which explode into 250 more tiny bomblets upon contact).
Many of the 5000 did not explode when dropped, leaving them still active
and littered around the country. These bombs look like bright yellow soda
cans, making children especially vulnerable to them, thinking they are
toys. In addition, hundreds of other UXO’s (unexploded ordinance
units) remain on Afghanistan’s landscape.
Indeed, the major
casualties are civilians. One study conducted by ICRC found 85 per cent
of landmine victims had been engaged in non-military activities such as
tending livestock, farming and travelling. Many of these victims were
recently returned refugees; indeed, ICRC noted a significant increase
in land mine victims when refugees returned to rural areas in large numbers
in 1992. 80 Landmines thus not only kill and maim people in large numbers
but considerably hamper reconstruction efforts by any returning populations.
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