(United Nations says number of mine related incidents has fallen sharply) (770) East of the Afghan capital Kabul, President Hamid Karzai's government and United Nations demining experts began destroying stockpiled landmines May 12, according to a May 13 press release by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN). The mine destruction was described as being symbolic of Afghanistan's commitment to rid its territory of antipersonnel landmines as quickly as possible, according to a U.N. expert in Kabul, as quoted in the IRIN press release. According to the press release, Afghanistan is one of the world's most heavily mined countries, causing 200,000 mainly civilian casualties over the past two decades. Since international mine experts and Afghan authorities began their mine clearing operations, 2.8 million explosive devices have been cleared from 320 million square meters of land, and mine incidents have fallen from 20 per day to 120 per month, according to IRIN. However, 815 million square meters remain to be cleared to ensure the safe return of internally displaced people to their homes, according to the press release. Following is the text of a press release issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' Integrated Regional Information Network on May 13, 2003: (begin text) Afghanistan: Symbolic destruction of landmines KABUL, 13 May (IRIN) -- As part of its commitment under the Mine Ban Treaty, Afghanistan has begun destroying stockpiled landmines. In a UN-government joint venture, the first batch of 536 antipersonnel mines and 20 antitank mines were detonated in four massive blasts on Monday to the east of the capital, Kabul. "It was aimed at demonstrating Afghanistan's commitment to move forward as quickly as possible with ridding the country of antipersonnel landmines," Dan Kelly, a programme manager of the United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (UNMACA), told IRIN in Kabul. Afghanistan, which is one of the world's most heavily mined countries, last September became the 144th nation to have signed the 1997 Ottawa convention on banning the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of landmines. Afghanistan also has one of the highest rates of mine and unexploded ordnance victims in the world. Based on UNMACA estimates, more than 200,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed or injured by mines in the last two decades of war. But progress has been made: over the past five months, mine incidents have fallen from 20 per day to 120 per month, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. So far, 2.8 million explosive devices, including mines and unexploded ordnance, have been cleared from 320 million sq metres of land. But 815 million sq metres of land still have to be cleared to ensure the safe return of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people (IPDs). "Today's blast was just to indicate that the Afghan government honestly wants to implement the Mine Ban Treaty," Gen Shafi Bahir of the defence ministry told IRIN, noting that the government had identified 49 stockpiles of landmines in Kabul, which would also be destroyed very soon. "As part of a five-year plan, we will demolish the 49 centres in Kabul, and then will launch [an operation for] destroying the stockpiles in the provinces," Bahir said, expressing optimism that the government would be able to destroy most of the stockpiles of mines country-wide within two years. Despite being largely independent of Kabul, according UNMACA, provincial authorities are generally cooperating on destroying the landmine stockpiles. "We are getting a lot of support from the authorities in the provinces," Kelly said. He expressed concern, however, that hundreds or thousands of mines remained in the hands of private militias and warlords. "The biggest challenge is these individuals and small groups. We have to speak with them and have dialogue with these people," Kelly said. The UNMACA is implemented by 15 national and international organisations. About 7,200 Afghans are working in mine-clearance programmes currently. One hundred mine-clearance operatives have been killed and 500 injured since clearance operations started in Afghanistan 13 years ago. [This Item is Delivered to the "Asia-English" Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: IRIN@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial sites requires written IRIN permission.] Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003