| U.S. Campaign to Ban
Landmines Email Newsletter In this edition. . .
New Action Flyer for You
to Distribute [We apologize. We meant to include the above link
in last week’s action alert regarding the many protests nation-wide.
However, the link was inadvertently cut off.] To see the recent
USCBL letter to President Bush , visit Campaign Gets Op Eds Published
in Michigan Newspapers Click here to see the Detroit and Lansing
Op Eds: US Soldier, Two Others Wounded by Landmines On Airbase in Afghanistan January 10, 2003 (AFP) A wounded American soldier was evacuated to Germany Friday after stepping on a landmine in this US-dominated airbase in Afghanistan, prompting a halt and security review of all de-mining operations, the US military said. "The soldier was participating in mine clearance operations when he stepped into an uncleared area," Colonel Roger King told reporters. "He suffered a traumatic amputation to the right foot. He's in a stable condition." The soldier, who was not named, was flown to Germany for treatment. The incident occurred at 9:00 am (0430 GMT) Thursday on the largely uninhabited south side of the sprawling air base north of the Afghan capital Kabul. King said the soldier, who was from the
769th engineering battalion of the Louisiana National Guard, was
walking behind a "mine-clearing dozer" and stepped out
of the cleared area. A Polish soldier in the coalition was also
slightly injured by the blast but was not hospitalized, King added. The accidents have prompted the US military to suspend all de-mining on the base for a safety review. "Today they're going to do a stand down of mine-clearing operations just to go back and review all their safety procedures," King said. The coalition has de-mined some 1.7 million square metres on Bagram, with another 1.5 million square metres left to clear, he added. A US soldier was also injured by a landmine January 4 while on a routine patrol in Khost province bordering Pakistan. Afghanistan is one of the most mine-affected countries in the world following 23 years of war, with 150 to 300 people per month injured or killed due to mines or unexploded ordnance, according to the United Nations. "We make no bones about that, Afghanistan is a dangerous place," King added. More than 8,000 US troops are stationed in Afghanistan as leaders of an international coalition which ousted the hardline Taliban regime 13 months ago and continues to hunt Taliban fugitives and members of the al-Qaeda terror network. Twenty-six US troops have been killed in action in Afghanistan since October 2001, the military says. New Video Available From
Demining/Victim Assistance Group www.clearpathinternational.org/news/archives/000060.php
Four Killed in Angola Landmine
Explosion Eight people were killed when a landmine exploded along the same stretch of road in September. The Angolan army has said Malange province, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of the most heavily mined areas in the southwest African country. Millions of anti-personnel mines litter the countryside of the oil-rich nation, the legacy of 27 years of civil war between government forces and the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) which ended in April. For more information about the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines or to donate on-line, please visit www.banminesusa.org
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