KUNDUZ -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is funding a two-week awareness campaign in the Kunduz provincial capital and districts to educate students about the dangers of land mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO).
"The vast majority of land mine contamination in Afghanistan emanates from the 1980s when the Soviets planted land mines as part of a defensive strategy," according to a 2019 Brown University study.
Implemented by Afghanistan's Homeland Youths Social Inventive Organisation (HYSIO) on April 4, the campaign will continue through next Thursday (April 20).
In recent years, children have regularly encountered unknown objects on their way to or from school amid widespread conflicts and insecurity in Kunduz, and this was the incentive to launch the awareness campaign, said Eklil Jasoor, director of HYSIO in Kunduz.
In this video screenshot a member of Afghanistan's Homeland Youths Social Inventive Organisation (HYSIO) awareness team gives a presentation about danger of land mines and unexploded ordnance to students at Fatema-ul-Zahra elementary school in Kunduz city April 7.
"We formally launched the 15-day awareness campaign in the provincial capital and nine districts of the province," said Jasoor.
"Our mobile teams will educate schoolchildren about the danger of mines and UXO," he said.
"In the last two days, we have provided information to more than 2,000 male and female students so they can identify different types of mines and unknown objects and would not touch them," he said on April 7.
"This campaign is carried out not only at schools but also at educational centres, mosques, religious schools, orphanages and areas where internally displaced persons (IDPs) live," Jasoor said.
"The implementation of this campaign will prevent civilian casualties, especially among children."
Jasoor called on those who have learned from the campaign to convey the campaign's messages to others and fulfill their responsibility toward their peers.
Hidden enemy
Educating the future generation of Afghanistan can help raise awareness among families and reduce civilian casualties, Kunduz residents and schoolchildren said.
Abdul Kabir Ashrat, 27, a resident of Kunduz city, said children and students are still the main victims of mines and UXO, especially in the districts, adding that remote areas need more educational programmes.
"The danger of land mines is very serious in Kunduz for civilians, especially for students, which is why non-governmental organisations (NGOs) first targeted children for awareness programmes," said Ashrat.
"Awareness campaigns for schoolchildren will prevent casualties among children in the explosion of mines ... and will prevent terrorist groups' abuse of children," he added.
Tabasum Haidari, 13, a fifth-grader at Fatima Zahra Girls High School in Kunduz city, said she has gained much information about the danger of mines and UXO through UNICEF's educational programmes.
"We should not touch unknown objects, and we must immediately inform a family member or someone older than us who is close to us when we see such objects," she said.
"We have learned not to touch a mine or an unknown metal object that we might see on the road or in an abandoned area, as they could pose risks to human lives," she told Salaam Times.
"After receiving basic training by the UNICEF teams, I learned that if I come across explosives and unknown objects, I should not touch them and inform security forces through our elders," said Tahmina Sediqi, 11, a fourth-grader at Khwaja Mashhad Girls High School in Kunduz city.
"We did not know such objects before, but now we know which type of metals are mines and explosives," she said.
"They introduced different types of mines and unknown objects through posters. Now, we can identify every type of suspicious object," she told Salaam Times.
Serious efforts
Although efforts for land mine clearance have taken place in the last 15 years in Afghanistan, the explosion of land mines and explosives still takes the lives of many civilians, especially children, in the country.
Mines and UXO still exist in vulnerable parts of the province, say officials at the mine clearance agency in Kunduz. Its staffers are working to reduce the risks associated with land mines.
There are currently 65 areas contaminated with land mines and other explosives in Kunduz province, spread over a radius of more than nine square kilometres in 37 villages and seven districts, including the provincial capital, said Sayed Aqa Atiq, director of the mine clearing office for the northeast regions of Afghanistan.
"In the last two years, hundreds of unexploded objects remaining from war have been reported to us ... and have been destroyed."
"Also, more than three square kilometres of the area has been cleared in the districts of Khanabad, Dasht-i-Archi, Imam Sahib, Chahar Dara and Aliabad and in the provincial capital," he said on April 9.
"From January 1, 2021, to March 2023, 110 civilian casualties have been reported to us -- 71 injured and 39 dead. About 70% of them are children under 18. Of the casualties, 40% are caused by land mines and 60% by UXO," he added.
"We have surveyed each village in every district of Kunduz province. Survey teams included teams defusing UXO ... teams providing awareness about the danger of land mines and UXO, and teams collecting data on civilian casualties," he told Salaam Times.
But I didn't know anything about these mines. Are there mines in Afghanistan? I think these mines have turned to a project, because these are the mines that the organizations have been working on for forty years and they are not finished. It is known that this is a rumor, and the organizations have created jobs for themselves. There are no mines and no danger! but it is necessary for newly returning families to be aware of this dangerous enemy and know its nature.
Reply7 Comment
I am very proud to be a part of this campaign
Reply7 Comment
Disseminating information about mines and unexploded ordnance is essential. Every year, thousands of Afghans, especially children, are killed or maimed due to the explosion of these dangerous devices. There is still little information about how much information can be published and delivered to the public. We had a friend. He was my age. He had gone to the desert to gather firewood. There he hit an exploded shell. As a result of the explosion, he was killed on the spot. Information about mines should be included in Afghanistan's school books, and children should be taught not to touch unfamiliar tools. Also, women at home should be educated and given information about the dangers of mines and unexploded ordnance.
Reply7 Comment
A few years ago, I read a BBC report. The report said that when the Soviet Union's red army left Afghanistan, they left many underground mines in this country as a legacy to the Afghans. Later, these mines took thousands of Afghans' feet, arms, and eyes and killed many of them. This series is ongoing... and unfortunately, dangerous mines of the Soviet era remain in almost a quarter of Afghanistan. Also, I read in the report that the demining program was started in Afghanistan nearly thirty years ago after the withdrawal of the Soviet forces. According to the information provided by mine clearance agencies, the Soviet soldiers have planted around 70 types of mines in various areas, as some dangerous mines remain underground. Because Afghans are fond of snuff, they [soviets] have made mines similar to the snuff cans and spread them in various areas so that people get cheated with and hold it. People's lack of familiarity with these unfamiliar items also caused many Afghans to lose their eyes, legs, and arms. Still, it was said that even after the withdrawal of the Russian forces from Afghanistan, some organizations bombed some areas. For example, in the areas where fighting between the Taliban and the Republican troops took place, huge bombs were planted that may take years to be removed and destroyed. Mine clearance organizations still operate in Afghanistan. It is hoped that it will prioritize the areas where war has been fought for the past two decades. Leave the time of the
Reply7 Comment
Since the time when the Soviets attacked Afghanistan, there have been many unexploded mines in Afghanistan. These mines have killed many of our compatriots. The demining organizations have been collecting mines and unexploded ordinance since 1993, but they have not finished yet. The main reason why the collection of mines in Afghanistan does not end is because the war is still going on in Afghanistan. The groups involved in the war are still planting mines on the ground. We are grateful to UNICEF for launching mine awareness in the schools, mosques and orphanages in Kunduz province. We Afghans are happy about this program of the United Nations conducted through the UNICEF agency. Most children look for iron and plastic things in the streets, and collect these iron things, and then sell them. Children are not aware that these old irons are not mines or explosives. In this sense, mines kill a lot of children in Afghanistan. This UNICEF program can make children aware of the danger of mines so that other children would not touch the same old irons.
Reply7 Comment
These efforts are commendable, but the target people should know that this public awareness should be given to whom and how it should be given. Residents of the cities and people of the central areas of the districts are usually familiar with explosives and unexploded ordnance. They are also aware of their dangers because public awareness campaigns have been conducted in the past two decades, and the mines planted by Russians have already been removed and given explosion. If explosives are present now, they would be in the areas where the soldiers of the Republican era and the Taliban have fought. Anyway, it is a separate discussion as to who fought the war, but it all ended with the losses of Afghans. In my opinion, this kind of public awareness campaign on mine clearance would be effective in rural and mountainous areas, where neither the leaders, the youth, nor the children have information about explosives. It also happened as children found a bomb and brought it home. A head of the family took it to the blacksmith to make something useful in agriculture or fulfill daily needs. Therefore, if awareness is given to the people of the mountainous and rural areas, the expenses will not be wasted, but they will be helpful.
Reply7 Comment
UNICEF should be thanked, because the mine clearance project and familiarity with unexploded ordinance is a useful program for the people of Afghanistan, especially for the residents of Kunduz. Instructors and trainers assigned for educating the people in this area are obliged to do their best to make the people understand, and we ask UNICEF to launch this type of useful programs in other vulnerable provinces too.
Reply7 Comment