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One in five Afghans at risk from Landmines, HALO Trust warns
The crisis has worsened following the return of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees expelled from neighboring Pakistan and Iran.
A fifth of Afghanistan’s population is at risk of death or serious injury from landmines and unexploded ordnance, according to a new warning from HALO Trust, the world’s largest demining organization.
In a recent analysis, the charity revealed that around 6.4 million people—roughly 20% of Afghans—live in areas contaminated by remnants of decades of conflict.
Afghanistan is now the second most heavily mined country in the world, behind only Ukraine, and is in danger of becoming “a forgotten humanitarian problem.”
The HALO Trust reports that civilians continue to be killed or maimed by explosive devices on a monthly basis, with children accounting for more than 80% of the casualties. Many young victims are injured while scavenging for scrap metal to help support their families.
The crisis has worsened following the return of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees expelled from neighboring Pakistan and Iran.
Many of these returnees, displaced after the Islamic Emirate’s return to power in 2021, are resettling in hazardous areas with limited resources or support.
Since beginning operations in Afghanistan in 1998, HALO Trust has cleared more than 800,000 landmines and 11 million items of unexploded ordnance.
However, recent cuts to international aid—particularly from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), once a major funder—have forced the charity to reduce its Afghan staff from 2,200 to 1,000.
“Afghanistan is now a forgotten humanitarian problem,” said Dr. Farid Homayoun, the HALO Trust’s Afghanistan Programme Manager.
“The Afghan people have endured more than four decades of war, displacement, and poverty. The international community must not abandon them before the job is done.”
The warning comes amid growing concern over the future of global demining efforts. Earlier this year, HALO Trust raised alarms after several European countries signaled intentions to withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty, the landmark 1997 agreement that bans anti-personnel mines.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that security risks in Central Asia and developments in Afghanistan are among the primary concerns for the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
The CSTO is a regional military alliance that includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Speaking in Moscow during a meeting with CSTO Secretary-General Taalatbek Masadykov, Lavrov described the region’s security challenges as “central” to the organization’s agenda.
“The problems that are currently among the central ones for the CSTO are new challenges and threats. I am referring to the situation in the Central Asian region of collective security, as well as everything related to what is happening in Afghanistan,” he said.
He praised Masadykov as “one of the leading experts” on Central Asian security, noting that his experience could enhance coordination and increase the effectiveness of allied actions.
Similar to NATO, the CSTO considers an attack on one member state as an attack on all.
Countries in the region have always expressed concern about security threats from Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate, however, has dismissed these concerns and assured that it will not allow Afghanistan’s soil to be used against another country.
The Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan has announced that the leader of the Islamic Emirate has approved the establishment of a faculty dedicated to “Prophetic Medicine.”
According to the ministry, this new faculty will play a vital role in advancing medical sciences and training skilled healthcare professionals across the country.
Afghanistan’s Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, Noorullah Noori, has announced that the long-delayed demarcation and renovation of border markers along the Afghanistan–Iran frontier will officially begin in the near future.
According to a statement from the ministry, Noori made the remarks during a meeting with Iran’s ambassador to Kabul, Ali-Reza Bikdeli.
He assured the Iranian side that the Islamic Emirate is fully committed to accelerating the process and resolving any challenges that may arise during implementation.
In a separate statement, the Iranian Embassy in Kabul said Bikdeli underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation on border issues, describing it as a key factor in strengthening and expanding overall relations between the two countries.
Officials from both sides agreed nearly three months ago to resume the border-marker renovation project, which had remained stalled for the past seven years.
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