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:
- ‘That’s one I laid’ – How ex-Taliban are helping IED clear-up in Afghanistan
December 22, 2024
Former Taliban fighters are now helping the world’s largest landmine-clearing charity locate bombs which they planted during the long war against coalition forces in Afghanistan. One of the Halo Trust’s leaders has told how during a journey to investigate a roadside bomb near Kandahar, one of their convoy’s security guards unexpectedly pointed to the device and ...
- Afghanistan: Unexploded Ordnance Claims 137 Lives in 2024
December 15, 2024
The Directorate of Mine Action Coordination says that since the beginning of 2024, 137 people have been killed and 330 others injured as a result of unexploded ordnance detonations. Nooruddin Rustamkhil, the head of this directorate, told TOLOnews that during this period, 150 square kilometers of land across the country have been cleared of unexploded mines. ...
- Human Rights Watch Q&A: US Antipersonnel Landmine Transfers
December 13, 2024
On November 20, 2024, the administration of United States President Joe Biden announced the transfer of antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine, reversing a longstanding US prohibition. An additional transfer of antipersonnel mines was announced on December 2. The announcements did not disclose the types and quantities of antipersonnel mines. These transfers contravene Biden’s 2022 policy on ...
- Afghanistan: ISIS-K claims responsibility for attack on Taliban Ministry of Refugees
December 12, 2024
The ISIS-Khorasan branch has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation of the Taliban in Kabul. On the night of Wednesday, December 11, the group issued a statement on their Telegram channel, acknowledging their role in the attack on Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister of Refugees. The ISIS-Khorasan statement also mentioned ...
- Leveraging new technology for a mine-free future
December 9, 2024
The devastating legacy of armed conflict – often marked by the indiscriminate use of landmines, improvised explosive devices and other explosive ordnance – poses a significant humanitarian challenge. Innovation in mine action With over 25 years of experience, UNOPS has the largest operational mine action capability in the UN system. This vast expertise has given us ...
- Afghanistan: Mine Clearance Organization warns of IED contamination
November 12, 2024
The Mine Clearance Organization recently announced that over 65 square kilometers of land in Afghanistan is contaminated with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The organization has called on the global community to increase political and financial support for clearing these devices from Afghanistan’s lands. According to the Mine Clearance Organization, more than 65 square kilometers across 26 ...
- Historic mine ban treaty at risk as clearance rates plummet amid escalating global conflict
November 11, 2024
The HALO Trust, the international landmine clearance organisation, has called for global recommitment to the Landmine Ban Treaty following a 10 per cent drop in the number of anti-personnel mines cleared in 2023. The steep fall in landmines cleared is reported in Mine Action Review’s “Clearing the Mines” report, which will be published today by a ...
- Terror Watch: It’s Time to Rethink Our Relationship With Qatar
October 24, 2024
As the horrific scenes of the terrorist Hamas attack on Israel played out on social media, with videos of mutilated corpses, gang rapes and abductions, Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh—safe and likely in his penthouse hideaway in Doha—celebrated and prayed over the successful massacre of over 1,200 people. The Qatari Foreign Ministry said it held Israel “solely ...
- Afghanistan: Bomb attack in Kabul market kills child, injures 11 others
October 23, 2024
An attacker carrying a bomb in a bag killed a child and wounded 11 others in a market in Afghanistan’s capital, police said on Thursday. The attack took place in a central area of Kabul on Wednesday afternoon. “Yesterday, there was an explosion in the Pamir Cinema area of Kabul from explosives a person was carrying ...
- Afghanistan: MoU Signed for Mine Clearance in Logar
September 18, 2024
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed for the demining of over 580,000 square meters of land in Logar Province. According to a report from the National Disaster Management Authority, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, the Acting Head of the Authority, held a meeting with Elhamullah Mustafa, Head of External Relations at HALO Trust. The discussion focused on ...
- Afghanistan: Fourteen people killed in Daikundi attack claimed by ISIS
September 13, 2024
Fourteen people were killed and six others injured in an attack by unknown armed individuals in central Afghanistan, the Taliban administration said on Friday. ISIS claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack in Daykundi province but has not provided evidence. Most people in that area are Shia Muslims and it was considered one of the safest provinces. Read more… Source: ...
- Afghanistan: Deadly Suicide Explosion in Kabul Leaves 6 Dead, 13 Injured
September 2, 2024
Kabul security command reported that in today’s explosion (Monday, September 2) in the Qala-e-Bakhtiar area of the sixth security district of Kabul city, six people were killed and thirteen others were injured. Khalid Zadran, the spokesperson for the Kabul security command, said in a statement that the attacker had concealed explosives on their body and detonated ...
- Pakistan: Four security men killed in Afghan border clashes
August 20, 2024
Three security personnel were martyred and five militants were killed in an exchange of fire along the Pak-Afghan border in Bajaur district on Sunday night while a Frontier Corps man was martyred in a clash with Afghan forces at the Gaznali border check post near the Noshki area of Balochistan. A statement issued by Inter-Services Public ...
- Afghanistan: One killed in minibus IED explosion in Kabul
August 11, 2024
One person was killed and several others were injured when an IED inside a minibus exploded in Kabul on Sunday, the Interior Ministry’s spokesman told Ariana News. The blast happened in Dasht-e-Barchi area in the west of the city. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. Khalid Zadran, the city’s police spokesman, said ...
- Root causes of terrorism in Pakistan: Beyond military operations
August 7, 2024
Pakistan has recently announced a fresh counter-terrorism operation, Azm-e-Istehkam, to rein in the surging terrorism in the country. This is not the first operation against terrorism in Pakistan and unfortunately, may not be the last one. Since the September 11 attacks in the US, Pakistan has launched several operations to root out terrorism from within its borders ...