AFGHANISTAN: LANDMINES CLEARANCE CONTINUES IN ONE OF THE MOST MINE AFFECTED COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD

Record ID: 837259

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN: LANDMINES CLEARANCE CONTINUES IN ONE OF THE MOST MINE AFFECTED COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD
  • Date: 6th April 2004
  • Summary: (L!2) KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) MAN WORKING IN MINEFIELD USING METAL DETECTOR TO FIND LANDMINES CLOSE UP METAL DETECTOR DEMINER WEARING PROTECTIVE VEST & SHIELD OVER FACE MAN PAINTING RED STONE (WHICH MEANS AREA HAS NOT BEEN CLEARED YET) WORKERS IN FIELD WHERE THEY ARE WORKING ON MINE CLEARANCE (AFGHANISTAN MEN WORKING ON LANDMINE CLEARANCE (5 SHOTS) = 22 SECS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICK FRUCHET, UN MINE ACTION CENTRE, SAYING: "Afghanistan is still one of the most mine-affected countries in the world. We've got 7800 people working in mine clearance in Afghanistan and it's going to take us another nine years to clear Afghanistan of landmines." MAN KNEELING DOWN USING KNIFE TO CHECK SOIL FOR LANDMINES KNIFE BEING PUSHED INTO SOIL TO CHECK FOR LANDMINES CLOSE UP DEMINER AT WORK (AFGHANISTAN MEN WORKING ON LANDMINE CLEARANCE (3 SHOTS) = 15 SECS) CHILDREN WALKING DOWN HILL PATH SURROUNDED BY AREAS THAT ARE STILL MINED (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) FRAIBA, 11 YEARS OLD, LANDMINE VICTIM, SAYING: "A month ago, when I came back from the bazaar, my mother asked me to call my brother who was playing here on the top of this hill. I went out to call him but I stepped on a mine, and it hit my eye." SCAR ON FRAIBA'S ARM CAUSED BY THE MINE SCAR ON FRAIBA'S NOSE CAUSED BY THE MINE CLOSE UP ANTI-TANK MINE FOUND ON SIDE OF HILL (4 SECS) WIDE OF MINE EXPLOSION (7 SECS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRUCHET SAYING: "In terms of development, our message to everybody is that you can't have development when you don't have landmine clearance. Clearing landmines is a precursor to development. You cannot build a road in afghanistan without clearing the landmines. You cannot build a power line in Afghanistan without clearing the landmines. You cant even do low-level agricultural support to rural farmers without checking to see whether or not their fields are mined." VARIOUS OF STOCKPILE OF CONFISCATED WEAPONS, AMMUNITIONS, AND OTHER IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES (2 SHOTS) FRENCH SOLDIERS STANDING BY ARMOURED VEHICLES FRENCH SOLDIERS FROM THE ISAF (INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE) PREPARING DETONATION WIRE FOR EXPLOSION THAT WILL DESTROY STOCKPILE OF WEAPONS WIDE OF EXPLOSION OF STOCKPILE & CLOUD OF SMOKE RISING (22 SECS) AFGHANS RUSHING TO THE PIT AFTER THE STOCKPILE DESTRUCTION AFGHANS RUMMAGING THROUGH STOCKPILE DEBRIS COLLECTING SCRAP METAL (3 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRUCHET SAYING: "I think the Afghan people desperately want landmine clearance. They want to go back to their land, they want to plant their fields, they want to graze their animals. And we've seen across the country that families are basically setting a tent near where we're working as we are working on their land. And as soon as we're done, they will move into the housing so people are obviously very, very receptive to the landmine clearance. And actually want more and more of it. And we're actually trying to keep up with the demand for clearance." AFGHAN BOY FLYING KITE NEXT TO MINEFIELD (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
  • City:
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: Conflict,Quirky,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA8ZSXUW0GQF4C57QOFGC79CTO
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Deminers push for continued funding as donors prepare to discuss how much it costs to rebuild Afghanistan.
    This is a common sight in Afghanistan.
    Deminers, clad in their protective suits, carefully covering the ground with a detector, listening for that beep which almost always tells the difference between life and death.
    "Afghanistan is still one of the most mine-affected countries in the world. We've got 7,800 people working in mine clearance in Afghanistan and it's going to take us another nine years to clear Afghanistan of landmines," said Patrick Fruchet of the UN Mine Action Centre which leads all the demining work in Afghanistan.
    The statistics say it all: an estimated 850 square kilometres of the country is contaminated by landmines.
    Another 500 square kilometres is littered with unexploded ordinances or UXOS.
    More than two decades of conflict saw warring armies using landmines against each other, many of them left unexploded.
    These are the same mines that have been killing or maiming an average of 100 Afghans each month.
    Eleven-year-old Fraiba is one of them.
    "A month ago, when I came back from the bazaar, my mother asked me to call my brother who was playing here on the top of this hill. I went out to call him but I stepped on a mine, and it hit my eye," Fraiba said as she and her brother and sister sit on the side of a minefield right in the middle of the capital Kabul.
    That accident has also left her scarred on her nose and arm.
    As the international community prepares to meet in Berlin to discuss just how much it costs to rebuild Afghanistan, those who are involved in demining are urging the international community to ensure that this sector gets sustained funding in the next 8 years.
    "In terms of development, our message to everybody is that you can't have development when you don't have landmine clearance. Clearing landmines is a precursor to development. You cannot build a road in Afghanistan without clearing the landmines. You cannot build a power line in Afghanistan without clearing the landmines. You cant even do low-level agricultural support to rural farmers without checking to see whether or not their fields are mined,"
    said Fruchet.
    The price for getting rid of landmines, unexploded ordinances and ammunitions in Afghanistan does not come cheap.
    Sixty million dollars are needed each year to ensure that deminers are able to continue their work six times a week, all-year round.
    In total, 500 million U.S. dollars are needed to get rid of all landmines and unexploded ordinances in Afghanistan by 2012 - a timetable set by the Mine Ban Convention.
    On Wednesday (March 31), President Hamid Karzai and other top Afghan officials will meet with international donors in Germany to seek $27.5 billion in aid over the next seven years - the cost of rebuilding the war-torn country.
    But Afghanistan is not expecting to gain pledges for the full total when major donors gather for the two-day meet in Berlin.
    Rebuilding after the overthrow of the Taliban in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States remains a key goal for Western powers to underpin their campaign against al Qaeda and other Islamic militant groups.
    Top of the list is addressing issues on security and central authority over fractious regional leaders while ensuring the fight against al Qaeda and remnants of the Taliban does not derail elections later this year.
    But the drugs trade, reckoned by the United Nations to be worth about half of Afghanistan's officially estimated gross domestic product, is posing an increasingly difficult problem.
    The country's needs are daunting, ranging from building a functioning police and judicial structure to restoring drinking water supply and rebuilding the education system.
    Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai said last week that donors had pledged $4.5 billion this year and would provide another $7 billion in the coming three years.
    Fruchet says that while the current funds for demining are sufficient, the international community should continue to stay co mmitted to addressing one of the most basic problems in Afghanistan.
    "I think the Afghan people desperately want landmine clearance. They want to go back to their land, they want to plant their fields, they want to graze their animals. And we've seen across the country that families are basically setting a tent near where we're working as we are working on their land. And as soon as we're done, they will move into the housing so people are obviously very, very receptive to the landmine clearance. And actually want more and more of it. And we're actually trying to keep up with the demand for clearance," he said.
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