RFE/RL
04/16/2003
By
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The head of the Department of Anti-Personnel Mines in Afghanistan, Mohammad Shahab Hakimi, said on 15 April that 7,500 demining personnel—primarily Afghans—are working in Afghanistan to clear mines, which he said kill 100 and injure another 500 people every month in the country, Iranian state radio reported.

This, according to AP the same day, is approximately half the amount of casualties that was occurring previously, and is a result of the intense demining campaign that has been supported by international funders.

Hakimi also said that approximately 850 square meters of land was mined in 1,585 villages, and experts contend that there are upward of 10 million mines in the country - most of them laid by Soviet troops. The International Red Cross has estimated that 200,000 Afghans have been killed or maimed by mines in the last 20 years.

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