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:
- 30 Years of Impact – An Evaluation of the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan
November 15, 2021
Due to successive waves of instability and conflict from the 1980s onwards, Afghanistan was heavily contaminated by explosive ordnance (EO). Established to improve this situation, the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan (MAPA) commenced activities in 1988. MAPA is a platform and umbrella structure for mine action, linking coordinating bodies, donors, and implementing partners. As of August ...
- Afghanistan: Two People Wounded In Kabul Blast
November 15, 2021
At least two people were wounded in a roadside bomb blast that occurred on Monday morning in Police District 5 of Kabul city, officials said. Initially there was a report of no casualties, but the spokesman for the Kabul security department, General Mobin Khan, confirmed that two people were injured in the blast. An explosion occurred in ...
- Afghanistan: Explosion in Kabul killed and injured civilians
November 13, 2021
An explosion killed at least one and wounded three more civilian people in Police District 18, Dasht-e-Barchi of Kabul on Saturday afternoon, November 13. Spokesperson of the Taliban Zabiullah Mujahid in a Twitter post confirmed the casualties but said that the incident happened after a car caught fire but eyewitnesses have said that the car was ...
- Afghanistan: Bomb Explodes In Eastern Nangarhar Province
November 12, 2021
Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said a bomb ripped through a crowded mosque in eastern Nangarhar province Friday during afternoon prayers, wounding at least 15 worshippers. Provincial government spokesman Mohammad Hanif told VOA the explosive device was planted inside the mosque, but he said there were no deaths. Eyewitnesses reported a much higher casualty toll, however. The mosque ...
- Afghanistan’s ghost soldiers undermined fight against Taliban – ex-official
November 10, 2021
Afghanistan’s ex-finance minister has blamed the government’s fall on corrupt officials who invented “ghost soldiers” and took payments from the Taliban. Khalid Payenda told the BBC that most of the 300,000 troops and police on the government’s books did not exist. He said phantom personnel were added to official lists so that generals could pocket their wages. Read ...
- Landmine casualties ‘exceptionally high’, Syria and Afghanistan worst-hit
November 10, 2021
According to Landmine Monitor 2021, the number of victims rose by 20 per cent in 2020 compared with the previous 12 months, the result of “increased armed conflict and contamination” of land with improvised mines. In total, more than 7,000 people were killed or injured in 54 countries and areas, while Myanmar was the only State ...
- Afghanistan: Roadside bomb targets Taliban, kills 2 in Jalalabad
November 3, 2021
A roadside bomb struck a Taliban patrol in a stronghold of Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding three, witnesses said. Wednesday’s bomb went off in the city of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. A Taliban district commander in the city confirmed the blast and said four Taliban fighters were ...
- Afghanistan: Explosions and gunfire heard at Kabul military hospital
November 2, 2021
The Afghan capital Kabul has been rocked by two explosions and gunfire at the site of a military hospital. A Taliban spokesman said the first blast happened in front of the 400-bed Sardar Daud Khan hospital and the second was nearby. The spokesman said there had been casualties but did not give numbers. An eyewitness told the ...
- Afghanistan: Surge in Islamic State Attacks on Shia
October 25, 2021
The Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), an armed group affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS), is carrying out bombings and other targeted attacks against Afghanistan’s Shia religious minority that amount to crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said today. The group has also carried out other mass casualty attacks, including the August 29, 2021 ...
- Afghanistan: ISIL claims responsibility for detonating power pylon in northern Kabul
October 23, 2021
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant officially claimed responsibility for detonating a power pylon that cut the main power line to Kabul and left the Afghan capital in complete darkness since Thursday. In a statement released on the Telegram channel, the group said that the soldiers of the caliphate detonated a bomb on an electricity ...
- Afghanistan: Child among at least two killed in roadside bombing targeting the Taliban in Jalalabad
October 23, 2021
A roadside bombing targeting a Taliban vehicle in eastern Afghanistan has killed at least two civilians, including a child, Taliban and health officials said. Two bombs detonated in Jalalabad, east of Kabul, as a Taliban vehicle was passing by on Saturday, killing one child, district police chief Ismatullah Mubariz said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the ...
- Afghanistan: 2 wounded in explosion in Kabul
October 20, 2021
At least two people were wounded in a bomb attack in Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Interior confirmed. A hand grenade was hurled from the Kabul Zoo towards Taliban security forces stationed in Dehmazang Square in Police District 3 of Kabul, spokesperson Qari Saeed Khosty wrote on his social media account. Local residents ...
- Afghanistan: Deadly blast hits Shiite mosque in Kandahar during Friday prayers
October 15, 2021
A large explosion tore through a Shi’ite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar during Friday prayers, causing heavy casualties, a spokesman of the Taliban government’s interior ministry said. Qari Saeed Khosti said authorities were collecting details of the explosion, which took place days after a suicide bomb attack claimed by the Islamic State group ...
- Afghanistan: Blast in Kunar province kills Taliban commander, injures 11
October 14, 2021
A bomb ripped through a vehicle carrying a Taliban police chief in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing him and wounding 11 others, officials said. The blast happened in Asadabad, the capital of Kunar province, targeting the Taliban police chief for Shigal district, said an official from the group. “The police chief has died and eleven people have ...
- Afghanistan: Deadly explosion kills and wounds worshipers in Northern Kunduz Province
October 8, 2021
A deadly explosion in Khan Abad port of northern Kunduz province inflicted casualties to at least 80 worshipers on Friday, October 8, BBC reported. The explosion has occurred in a mosque where hundreds of people had gathered to perform Friday prayer. Deputy Minister of information and culture and spokesperson of the Taliban Zabiullah Mujahid has also confirmed ...

