Awareness campaign against landmines launched across Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan, 15 apr 03 (Xinhua)

Anti-landmine activists and UN officials on Tuesday called for participation of the Afghan people in the fight against the “silent killer,” which has become an impediment to the country's reconstruction efforts.

A nationwide campaign kicked off here Tuesday at a ceremony to raise awareness on landmines' destructive impact on the rebuilding process in the post-war Afghanistan, where about 10 million landmines were estimated scattering around the country after two decades of war and conflicts.

The month-long program, including various events in Kabul and other regional centers of the country, was organized by non-governmental anti-landmine organization Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines (ACBL) in collaboration with the United Nations Mine Action agency and the Afghan government, organizers said.

Events in the capital city include a parade of demining workers, a photo exhibition, mass rallies and several sports tournaments in coming weeks, according to ACBL director Shohad Hakimi.

“By organizing events throughout the country, we hope that ordinary Afghans will participate in celebrating the progress being made in creating a mine-free Afghanistan,” he said.

In other major urban centers across the country, including Kunduz, Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, Bamyan, Jalalabad and Kandahar, mine action activities will include similar opening conferences followed by a week of sports tournaments.

Inaugurating the mine action campaign in Kabul, UN special envoy to Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi told a gathering of government officials, demining workers and international peacekeeping soldiers that the United Nations will lead a war in Afghanistan to rid the country of these “silent killers.” “We are very proud participating in this kind of war, although we as the United Nations are against all the wars,” he said. The UN Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (UNMAPA) is monitoring and coordinating demining activities in the country, where 15 national and international demining organizations have been working to purge its roads and fields of
ubiquitous landmines, a legacy of a decade of Soviet occupation before
1989 and ensuing internal conflicts.

Currently about 150 people are killed or maimed every month in Afghanistan, which represents a significant decline from the monthly number of landmine victims before intensive demining activities were carried out throughout the country last year. Brahimi called for more activities on landmine clearance efforts as the country is restoring its
war-torn infrastructure and economy, saying that international assistance could be provided to the country's vast rural areas only when a landmine-free environment is secured.

The mine action campaign was launched in coincidence with the official entry into force of the so-called Mine Ban Treaty in the country, organizers said.

Last July, Afghanistan requested the international community to help make the country free of landmines in 10 years before ratifying the international convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines, which according to the agreement enters into force this month.

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