Plea for aid to rid Afghanistan of killer mines

UN mine clearance chief Richard Dan Kelly yesterday called for more international assistance to help rid Afghanistan of mines within 10 years and save around 17,000 people from death or injury.

De-mining organisations hope to clear all mines and unexploded ordnance from the war-ravaged country within 10 years as long as donors maintained aid and honoured their pledges, as some de-miners had not been paid for months, Kelly told reporters.

Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, with mines and old ordnance from decades of war continuing to kill or maim between 100 and 120 people every month.