27 November 2009
Decades of conflict have left Afghanistan with one of the worst landmine problems in the world.
Since 1979, it is estimated that more than 600,000 mines have been laid in the country. Many of these devices remain a threat, planted years ago but still capable of killing and maiming today.
As Afghanistan rebuilds itself after the ousting of the Taliban, clearing unexploded mines has become a priority. In Herat province in the west of the country, the DFID-funded mine-clearing organisation the Halo Trust is working to make land safe again for people to live on, farm and travel through.
Opening up land
Qalat-i-Ghazi is a village of 120 families located 5 kilometres from the border with Iran. Earlier this year, a Halo Trust team set to work in the village, intending to replicate the successful clearance of nearby Qalat-i-Mirakim carried out over the previous 12 months.
Clearance in Qalat-i-Mirakim had made a huge difference to its famers, with land that formerly hid anti-tank mines being opened up for crop-rearing.
Within a few weeks, local farmers had ploughed up 19 hectares of cleared ground and were producing high-yielding wheat and melon crops. Around 250 families benefited.
De-mining
As in Qalat-i-Mirakim, the minefield in Qalat-i-Ghazi dated from the 1980s, when it was laid by the Mujahedeen to prevent Soviet tanks and armoured vehicles from accessing the area. The village’s farmers had stopped their cultivation where the minefield began – which was the point where the de-mining team started their work.
Using handheld metal detectors and other simple tools, the Halo Trust’s experts cleared four anti-tank mines within their first week. All of these mines were found within 50 metres of the farmland, and one was just a metre away from where a farmer had stopped ploughing.
So far almost 30 hectares of land have been cleared around Qalat-i-Ghazi, and the work will continue until the village is safe again for all its people – enabling them not only to live more securely, but to enjoy bigger harvests and increased incomes.
Facts and stats
- DFID is providing over £10 million to the Halo Trust over five years (2008 - 2013) to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance in Herat province.
- Halo is a non-governmental organisation with nearly 8,000 full-time mine-clearers in nine countries and on-going surveys into new regions. By 2009, after 21 years, Halo had destroyed over 1 million landmines.
- Between March and August 2009, the 29 DFID-funded Halo teams working in Herat destroyed 505 anti-personnel mines and 38 anti-tank mines, and cleared 267.5 hectares of minefield area.