18 December 2001

U.S. Sponsors Extensive De-mining Program in Afghanistan

Washington -- Funds from the United States are playing a substantial role in the effort to clear Afghanistan of land mines left over from two decades of conflict.

"Of the $500 million provided by the United States for humanitarian mine action worldwide since 1993, nearly $28 million has gone to mine action efforts in Afghanistan," said Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr., the newly appointed Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Mine Action.

Speaking December 18 at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, Bloomfield said the U.S. is contributing $7.03 million for the current fiscal year to help with de-mining in Afghanistan.

These funds will be used in a four-step plan that would involve the training of personnel to perform mine clearance, technical program planning and managerial support to de-mining organizations, land mine and unexploded ordnance removal, and mine risk education initiatives.

The funds are distributed to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (UNOCHA) and the Hazardous Area Life-Support Organization (HALO) Trust, which together conduct the mine clearance operation on the ground.

Both organizations train and employ Afghan citizens to help them with the de-mining effort, most of which is done manually. With an estimated 4,500 Afghan personnel currently employed, Bloomfield reported that de-mining has become the largest industry in the country.

"The Afghan de-miners themselves know what they're doing, and they're quite renowned," said Bloomfield.

Bloomfield estimated that there are between 500,000 and 10 to 12 million landmines within Afghanistan, mostly concentrated in its provinces bordering Pakistan and Iran.

According to Bloomfield, efforts thus far have yielded encouraging results since, despite its rough terrain. Afghanistan has the highest rate of land reclamation from landmines in the world, he said.

However, he said that the ultimate goal of clearing the country entirely of mines was still far off. Two hundred Afghan civilians are killed or wounded by land mines each month. But that figure, though tragic, is down approximately 50 percent from 1998, said Bloomfield.

"It's a big effort, and the experts say it is going to take many years to get the number of civilian casualties anywhere down to zero, which is our goal," said Bloomfield.

Bloomfield said that the current fighting in Afghanistan did not exacerbate the mine problem, but acknowledged that unexploded ordnance from recent allied military actions presented a hazard similar to landmines. As a result, said Bloomfield, U.S. military personnel are currently involved in clearing unexploded ordnance, as well as any mines they find in the former battlegrounds.

"We are there already, in some capacity, trying to educate and address the problem directly," said Bloomfield.