INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that Afghanistan is one of the most contaminated
countries with mines and explosive materials in the world, and every month more than 60 people, mostly children, are killed or maimed in the
country.According to OCHA, three million people live within a kilometer radius of mines, improvised bombs and remnants of explosives left
over from the war.OCHA added that the contamination of Afghanistan&s lands with landmines is a legacy before 2001 and after and that the
provinces of Uruzgan, Kunduz, Helmand, Kandahar, Kunar, Badghis, Faryab, Nangarhar, Ghazni, Farah, Maidan Wardak and Samangan are the most
affected.According to OCHA, even a large number of infrastructures, including schools, are contaminated with explosives, while families
dependent on agriculture-based livelihoods, including farmers and herdsmen are most at risk from explosives.Also, returning populations are
vulnerable, because they do not know the areas they are returning to, OCHA said.As the poverty level in Afghanistan deepens, more children
and adults are driven to scavenge spent artillery shells and mortars to collect metal for a living, with tragic consequences, the OCHA
report said.The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says it does not have the resources to prevent mine hazards and the
fight against mine hazards is currently severely underfunded.The post Sixty 60 people killed or maimed by landmines in Afghanistan every
month: OCHA first appeared on Ariana News.
