ICRC report about UXO causalities exaggerated: Mujahid

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Islamic Emirate spokesman says casualties in blasts caused by unexploded devices are not as high as mentioned in the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s report.

Highlighting urgent need for additional efforts to address the issue of weapon contamination, ICRC said it recorded 640 children were killed or injured in 541 incidents involving landmine explosions and explosive remnants between January 2022 and June 2023 ---  nearly 60 per cent of the total number of civilian casualties (1,092 people) because of UXO related incidents.

The committee said unexploded and abandoned weapons were a real and persisting threat to civilians returning to the homes and communities they had fled amid decades of fighting in Afghanistan.

“Though the fighting has decreased, people's lives continue to be disrupted because efforts to clear the landmines and other unexploded weapons have not been entirely successful,” the report said.

This has resulted in an increase in casualties since August of 2021. Children have been particularly vulnerable to fatal or life-changing injuries as they unintentionally step on landmines or pick up unexploded ordnance (UXO) littered around the places they stay, play or do household chores.

However, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, told Pajhwok Afghan News that still landmines and other explosive remnants of war continued to kill people in different parts of the country.

He added: "Unexploded ordnances kill and inure people, but the graph has been controlled.”

He added some areas were previously used as security posts and camps and unexploded materials were left behind and there was serious need to clear such areas from the presence of landmines and unexploded materials."

Confirming casualties caused by landmine explosions, Mujahid said: “Most such incidents happen in the south and in the west and some other provinces, but the casualty graph is not that high."

The State Minister for Disaster Management has urged the Halo Trust to help clear landmines and said the ministry lacked budget to implement its schemes, according to a statement on Saturday.

The statement said the ministry had identified 36 areas in Kabul province contaminated with landmines and other explosives.

The statement said that acting Minister for Disaster Management Mullah Mohammad Abbas Akhund held a meeting with Halo Trust head James Cowan and his delegation who called on him here.

Referring to the population density in Kabul, the state minister said that there was an urgent need for a demining program and requested greater cooperation from the Halo Trust in this regard.

sa/ma