A group of Afghan children were grazing sheep in fields near the village of Bolak Wandi in eastern Helmand when they spotted a metallic object half-buried in the ground. Crowding round excitedly, they argued over who had found it first and who could sell it for scrap.
The mortar shell exploded, killing one child instantly.
Three more children died from their wounds as they were taken to hospital by Taliban fighters who had been nearby. Another passed away on arrival.
“I don’t blame anyone,” said Haji Abdul Salam, the father of two of the children. He tries to focus on comforting his wife, who cries for her lost children.
“This mortar could have been left over from the Americans or the Soviet Union. However, not only our area, but all of Afghanistan should be cleared of this problem.” That mission has become more difficult.
The Taliban’s return to power last summer, ending their 20-year insurgency, should have helped de-mining efforts, with swathes of territory that were off-limits during the fighting finally accessible.
Yet foreign governments have now frozen development aid to the Afghan government, unwilling to use their taxpayers’ money to prop up the Taliban, an Islamist group that restricts women’s rights and has been at war with much of the West since harboring Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks.
One unintended consequence: In a previously unreported development, the Afghan government agency that oversees mine clearance told Reuters it had lost its roughly $3 million funding and laid off about 120 staff in April – the majority of the organization – because it couldn’t pay salaries.
“All the sanctions have severely affected us,” said Sayed Danish, deputy head of the agency, the Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (DMAC). “We can’t do strategic work, which is our main responsibility.”
The cost to ordinary Afghans of isolating the Taliban, who say they are being unfairly treated, was also highlighted after an earthquake last month left thousands homeless and the health system under huge strain, sparking some calls for a new approach to the group.
The loss of de-mining funds could have profound consequences for the country of 40 million people which is one of the most heavily mined places on Earth after four decades of war.
Almost 80% of civilian casualties from “explosive remnants of war” are children, the U.N. mining agency estimates, partly due to their curiosity as well as their regular role in collecting scrap metal to sell to bolster families’ incomes.
In the seven months to March, about 300 Afghan children were killed or maimed by landmines and other unexploded devices, according to the U.N.’s children’s agency.
The five children from Bolak Wandi, four boys and a girl aged between five and 12, died in April.
THOUSANDS OF DEVICES
Foreign governments have exempted humanitarian aid from their freeze, and hundreds of millions of dollars are flowing into the country, allowing aid organizations to function.
But the limitations of such funds – to meet urgent needs and aimed at bypassing the government – are becoming apparent, with many economists and experts saying the population will suffer without robust state services and a viable banking sector.
DMAC’s funding is part of roughly $9 billion a year in international development and security aid that the World Bank says been frozen since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, which relies on foreign donors for the bulk of its budget.
The de-mining work itself is largely carried out by aid groups, but DMAC provides strategic guidance to prioritize high-danger areas and maps the nationwide de-mining work to avoid duplicating efforts, according to Danish and aid workers.
“Mine action works best when national-level coordination and oversight is in place,” said Søren Sørensen, head of Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding for Afghanistan at the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), an international organization.
“At the moment all that is being done is that we select areas from an outdated list,” he added. “That is not effective and is not addressing the most serious hazards.” Sørensen stares out of the window of a car on the way back to the capital Kabul from Qafas Kalay, a small village in the eastern district of Khaki Jabbar, an area once used by Soviet forces as a military outpost and which more recently saw heavy fighting as the Taliban took the area.
Hundreds of devices have been detonated in the vicinity but almost 40,000 square miles still need to cleared. Across Afghanistan, thousands of unexploded devices lie in wait, the U.N. de-mining agency says.
