Afghanistan plans to completely clear their territory of mines by 2023

Almaty. April 4. Silkroadnews - Afghanistan plans to completely clear their territory of mines by 2023, according to Afghan news agency (AfTAG).

“Over the past 25 years 77.7% of the territory of Afghanistan has been cleared of the mines and other explosive remnants of war,” said Wais Ahmad Barmak, Minister of State for Emergency Affairs of Afghanistan at the event dedicated to the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

In his speech the Minister shared the plan for clearing the remaining territory from explosive devices.

At present, according to the estimations by the Minister of State for Emergency Affairs of Afghanistan, about 611 square km territory needs demining. Demining works will require $550 million at least, and the agency expects to remove all known hazards by 2023.

According to the UN reports, in 2015 explosions of landmines and other explosive remnants of war resulted in the death and injury of 388 Afghans. Another major threat to the population are the improvised explosive devices (IED) widely used by the militants; these weapons killed 459 civilians and resulted in 592 cases of injuries.