On the occasion of World Mine Awareness Day, the Office of the United Nations Deputy Mission in Afghanistan has said that during several decades of conflict in Afghanistan, nearly 45,000 people in the country have been killed or injured due to mine explosions.

The Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) wrote today (Thursday, 4 April) in a newsletter on the occasion of World Mine Awareness Day that mines and unexploded ordnance still threaten the lives of Afghan citizens, especially children.

This organization has said that during several years of conflict in Afghanistan, nearly 45,000 people, especially children, have been killed or injured in Afghanistan due to mine explosions.

The Office of the United Nations Deputy Mission has called for an alliance to raise awareness about the dangers of landmines and explosive remnants of war and to support demining work in Afghanistan.

In this regard, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on the occasion of World Mine Awareness Day that landmines, unexploded ordnance, and remnants of war directly threaten millions of people around the world, including Afghanistan.

Photo: A deminer clears explosive ordnance in Daman district, Kandahar Province. UNMAS

Mr. Guterres asked all the countries of the world to work together to “make the world free of mines and remnants of war”.

On the other hand, Richard Bennett, the special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council for Afghanistan, said on the occasion of the World Mine Awareness Day that many civilians, especially children, die in Afghanistan as a result of mine explosions.

Mr. Bennett called on everyone to step up their mine awareness and clearance efforts to ensure a “safer tomorrow”.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) has published a report on the occasion of World Mine Awareness Day and said that in the last two years, 1,401 people have died in Afghanistan due to the explosion of mines and explosives.

According to this international organization, 86% of the victims of mine explosions and explosives in Afghanistan are children, and about 4 million people in Afghanistan face the danger of mines and explosives. OCHA has emphasized in this report that 1.2 million square meters of Afghanistan’s soil is contaminated with mines and explosives.

In the same case, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that Afghanistan is one of the most contaminated countries with explosive materials in response to the deaths and injuries of more than 10 children in Herat and Ghazni as a result of the explosion of mines left over from the war of the past years. Children suffer the most consequences.

According to the United Nations, three million people in Afghanistan live within a kilometer radius of mines, improvised explosive devices and remnants of explosives left over from the war.

Meanwhile, the officials of the Taliban group in Afghanistan have commemorated this day and said that despite the fact that most areas of Afghanistan have been cleared of mines; But it has not reached zero and he asked the international community to fulfill their responsibility in this regard.

Maulvi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy of the Taliban group’s directorate, said today in a meeting on the occasion of World Mine Awareness Day in Kabul that despite the fact that all areas of Afghanistan have been cleared of mines; But it has not reached zero and it is still taking victims from the people.

This senior member of the Taliban group added that currently the world has forgotten those disabled Afghans who have lost parts of their bodies as a result of wars and explosions of unexploded materials.

He stated that this group fully supports the demining program and emphasized that this program should be implemented in all parts of Afghanistan and asked the international community to fulfill its responsibility in the field of demining in Afghanistan.

In this program, the political deputy of the head of the Taliban group says that despite the efforts of the government of this group, it is going on in the field of helping the disabled in the country; But he demanded more help from the world community and international organizations for the disabled.

Nooruddin Rostamkhel, head of mine clearance in the government’s ministry of dealing with Taliban incidents, said in this program that during the last year, 174 people, including women and children, died due to the explosion of mines and unexploded materials in Afghanistan, and 390 others were injured. .

Mr. Rostamkhel added that during the last three months of this year, 38 people died and 71 others were wounded due to the explosion of 61 mines and unexploded materials in Afghanistan. He emphasized that during the last year, 90 square kilometers of land in 119 districts of Afghanistan have been cleared from the dangers of mines and unexploded materials.

This is despite the fact that on Monday of this week, 10 children died and 10 others were injured as a result of the explosion of landmines left over from the war in Giravi district of Ghazni and Keshk of Rabatsangi in Herat.