Tuesday April 4, 2017
Kabul (BNA) The number of mines planted across the world is not clear, but it is said more than 110 million mines might have been planted in more than 70 world countries until the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.
4th April is marked each year as International Mine Awareness Day. On this day, world countries remember the convention ‘Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention’ signed by 162 countries to protect life of hundreds thousands of people across the world. Moreover, on this day the UN is asking all countries to support the mine action program.
According to UN reports, 40 million mines have been foiled so far around the world where the number of victims was down by 4,000 last year comparing to 1997 when the number of victims was 26,000. But, more mines should be foiled in Somalia, Congo, Cambodia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
UN and other international organizations have invested more than $ 600 million for mine action and mine clearance program since 1994. Nearly 3000 people are injured annually due to mine explosion only in Afghanistan, a country where death toll is in high level due to mine and other explosive-related explosions. During the past year, home-made landmines and roadside mines have changed to key causes of innocent casualties in Afghanistan.
Planting landmines are attributed to insurgent groups in Afghanistan as responsibility of most of such incidents is taken by the terrorist groups. In most countries of the world, explosive remnants of war are even more dangerous for people. Explosive remnants of war include unexploded artillery shells, bombs, grenades, mortars, explosive ordinance as conventional munitions containing explosives, with the exception of mines, booby traps and other devices and unexploded ordnance as explosive ordnance that has been primed, fused, armed, or otherwise prepared for use and used in an armed conflict. Most of them may have been fired, dropped, launched or projected and should have exploded but failed to do so. What organizations are responsible for action against mine? Governments and those countries polluted in mines are first responsible for taking serious action against mines and mine action program. At least 30 countries receive assistance provided by UN and more than 14 UN-related and international organizations are providing various services in demining and mine clearance programs. The main aim of a number of the international organizations are to deliver services to people in particular refugees, or in particular situation as humanitarian crisis, while a number of others focus on particular section of demining-related program in various countries of the world.
Lailuma Noori
