Afghanistan: The hidden explosive threat


In Afghanistan, the guns have fallen silent, but the war remains buried beneath the soil in the form of deadly explosive items, including landmines and unexploded remnants of war. The European Union supports mine clearance efforts so communities can safely use land for farming, housing, and schools, while also funding risk education and providing medical and rehabilitation support to survivors.

Afghanistan is one of the most mine-affected countries in the world, a legacy of successive wars that left millions of explosive remnants scattered across villages, mountains, and fields. Many of these devices were planted years ago, and their locations were never recorded.

Read more…
Source: European Commission


Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Explosive weapons: Civilians in populated areas must be protected

    January 26, 2022

    As the world urbanizes, so too do conflicts. It is estimated that some 50 million people now suffer the horrific consequences of urban warfare – a trend that is likely to continue as more and more people concentrate in towns and cities. Many of these conflicts are fought using weapons designed to deliver large explosive force ...

  • Afghanistan: Islamic State claims responsibility for attack in Herat

    January 23, 2022

    Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on Saturday in the western Afghan city of Herat, it said in a post on Telegram on Sunday. At least six people were killed when a blast ripped through a minivan in the city, officials said. Since the Taliban took over in August, a series of blasts and ...

  • Afghanistan: Child killed and four Taliban members injured in a roadside bomb explosion in Kabul

    January 16, 2022

    A child was killed and four Taliban members were injured in an explosion in Kabul’s Bagrami district today. Taliban’s spokesperson for the Kabul Police Command, says that the incident was due to a roadside bomb that targeted a Taliban vehicle. https://twitter.com/aamajnews24/status/1482638108537597954 Source:  Aamaj News 24 – Twitter  

  • Afghanistan: Taliban announces a national suicide brigade

    January 14, 2022

    The Taliban recently announced it will establish a battalion of suicide attackers as part of the national army of Afghanistan. These “martyrdom brigades” will be “under the control of the ministry of defense and will be used for special operations,” according to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. This was condemned as “horrific and appalling” by Shaharzad Akbar, the ...

  • Afghanistan: Mortar shell explosion kills 9 children near the border with Pakistan

    January 10, 2022

    An explosion in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan has killed at least nine children and wounded four others, according to local officials. The blast on Monday took place when a cart selling food items struck an old, unexploded mortar shell in Baiganan village in the district of Lalopar, according to a statement from the ...

  • Afghanistan: Taliban Officials Say Their Army Will Include Suicide Bombers

    January 5, 2022

    The future army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) will include a special battalion of suicide attackers, according to a spokesperson from the Taliban regime. Zabiullah Mujahid, the IEA’s deputy minister of information and culture, told Radio Azadi that the suicide unit will be active under the Ministry of Defense and will be part of ...

  • Afghanistan: Suicide bomber killed at Kabul passport office gate

    December 23, 2021

    A suicide bomber was killed at the gate of a passport office in the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday, a government spokesman said, and several people were injured in the blast, according to unconfirmed reports. A spokesman for Afghanistan’s interior ministry said the attacker was shot and killed while trying to enter the passport office premises. One ...

  • Afghanistan: Kabul Blast Targets Religious Scholar, Causes ‘Slight Injuries’

    December 17, 2021

    A bomb blast targeted the vehicle of a religious scholar, Mawllawi Abdul Salam Abid, the Interior Ministry said, adding that Abid and three companions suffered slight injuries. Eyewitnesses told TOLOnews that the explosion was due to a magnetic bomb blast. The incident occurred on Friday afternoon in the Parwan-e-Si area of PD4 of Kabul city. “The security ...

  • Afghanistan: Two Children Killed in Explosion of Leftover Ordnance in Uruzgan

    December 16, 2021

    At least two children were killed and eight other people were injured, including women, in a blast in the southwestern province of Uruzgan on Thursday. The blast occurred on Wednesday evening in Gaizab district of the province, officials said. According to the provincial head of information and culture, the blast was due to an explosion of ordnance ...

  • Afghanistan: 2 Killed, 4 Injured in 2 Kabul Explosions

    December 10, 2021

    Two explosions occurred in western Kabul city on Friday afternoon and two people were killed and four were injured, officials said. Saeed Khosty, the Interior Ministry spokesman, said the first explosion occurred in Dasht-e-Barchi in western Kabul city and targeted a transport vehicle. Two civilians were killed and three others wounded in the blast. Khosty said another ...

  • Guerrilla tactics offer Ukraine’s best deterrent against Putin’s invasion force

    December 6, 2021

    While there is no consensus concerning what current Russian military activity near Ukraine means, it has led to strong statements from US officials. On December 3, the Washington Post reported that US intelligence has found the Kremlin is planning a multi-front offensive as soon as early next year involving up to 175,000 troops. The short timeline ...

  • Afghanistan: Four wounded in Kabul blast

    December 2, 2021

    The Emergency Hospital in Kabul has confirmed four people were wounded in an IED explosion in Salim Karwan square in PD4 around midday Thursday. The Emergency Hospital said in a tweet that the injured were taken to the hospital from the scene of the explosion. The hospital said a child was among the injured adding the incident ...

  • Afghanistan: Two Injured in Kabul Blast

    November 30, 2021

    At least two people were injured in a blast that occurred in Kabul’s Police District 6 on Tuesday morning, officials said. General Mobin, spokesman of Kabul security department, said the explosion was due to a mine placed in the area. No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion. https://twitter.com/AlArabiya_Eng/status/1465719889080074241 Read more… Source: TOLO News/Al Arabiya English – Twitter  

  • Afghanistan: Blast rocks Kabul injuring two people

    November 23, 2021

    A blast has rocked Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Tuesday, Aamaj News reports citing a police representative. According to him, the incident took place near Kandahar market in an area of Kabul. A magnetic mine was detonated which was attached to a car belonging to members of the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia). It is noted that two ...

  • Clearing Afghanistan’s landmines one careful step a time

    November 18, 2021

    Weeks after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, families who fled the fighting in one southern village returned home to find something strange: the cricket ground had been circled in rocks painted red and white. White, it turned out, meant it was safe for children to play. But red signalled buried landmines and other ordnance — the ...