Prospective, perspective, bad prediction, premonition or just logical
reasoning, I do not know in fact what is leading me to reflect in the landmine
situation of Afghanistan in a time where the US and Britain are struggling to
remove their formal employees from Afghanistan but one fact is certain, the
impact of land mining in Afghanistan and how last year registered an increase
in landmine contamination, is an indicative that there is no such thing as soil
security in this country and nor is the matter being covered by the
international media.
According to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, last year there
was relevant cluster munition contamination,
Cluster munition contamination
DMAC reports that as of the end of December 2019,
there were seven areas in two provinces with cluster munition contamination
totalling 5.8km². However, DMAC noted that there is some evidence,
generated through local requests, of additional cluster munition contamination
which requires further investigation.[46]
The seven sites are affected by remnants of the
1,228 cluster munitions containing some 248,056 BLU-97B submunitions dropped by
the US between October 2001 and early 2002.[47] Cluster munition remnants are said
to affect around 7,000 people, and block access to grazing and agricultural
land.[48] Soviet forces also used cluster
munitions and demining operators continue to find unexploded submunitions on
demining and battle area clearance tasks.[49]
ERW Contamination
DMAC recorded 147km² of CHA with ERW contamination
as of the end of 2019. DMAC has also reported 630km² of contamination in
relation to firing ranges.[50] Legacy ERW contamination dating back
to before 2001 was previously reported to be 588km2,but the extent of
contamination has continued to rise over recent years due to conflict between
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) and government military forces against NGAGs.[51]
Casualties
Casualties overview[52]
|
Casualties |
|
|
All know mine/ERW casualties (between 1978 and 2019) |
At least 33,771 casualties (9,080 killed and 25,691 injured) |
|
Casualties in 2019 |
|
|
Annual total |
1,538 (decrease from 2,234 in 2018) |
|
Survival outcome |
579 killed; 959 injured |
|
Device type causing casualties |
antipersonnel mines: 25 casualties; antivehicle mines: 4 casualties;
ERW: 654 casualties; improvised mines: 850 casualties; unexploded
submunitions: 5 casualties |
|
Civilian status |
all casualties were civilians |
|
Age and gender |
747 adults (112 women, 635 men) 791 children (124 girls, 667 boys) |
in 2020 Impact Report
by LCM Monitor
The same report
mentioned above, states that the Taliban seized 400 landmines imported from
Iran,
"The
Taliban has accused Iran of supplying mines to the opposition forces in
Afghanistan, a charge Iran has denied. In December, the Taliban said it
captured 400 antipersonnel mines with Iranian markings from the opposition in
Bangi district of the northern province of Takhar.[4]
In an interview, a representative of the ousted
Rabbani government acknowledged that its forces were still using, and actively
importing, antipersonnel mines. He indicated that Tajikistan was now the main
supply route for mines, mostly of Soviet origin.[5]"
The fact that Afghanistan is facing an uncertain
future based on how well the wounds heals between Afghans is not only based on
the landmines that are still to be removed (and which were placed by Soviets
and later by this last Afghan Government), the incarceration of members of the
Taliban and social reprisals against their family members, were also
perpetrated by people who might well now be at Kabul airport.
Uncertainty as to how the process of transfer of
power will occur at the regional, local and tribal level is another matter of
concern.
Not only the late Afghan Government was not in
position to employ most of the population, but also failed to monitor the large
amounts of young men with wives and babies to feed, who in consequence of being
pushed against the wall by their economical responsibilities, joined private
armies in Syria and Iraq.
To this fringe of society, I include the male
population in Iran who were forbidden to study or work in Iran and consequently
found themselves incarcerated and forcibly dehumanised in the Iranian prison
system. The high rates of heroin addiction and sexual transmitted diseases in
this group might as well make them more vulnerable to enrol in new armed groups
of resistance against the Taliban.
Preventing this from occurring should be the main
priority when dealing with Afghan young males in Iran, Syria, and Iraq.
There was no opportunity, no support, and no
justice for this group of young men, and now we are left with people who will
undoubtedly become target of recruitment by criminal military gangs that have
no Religion nor regards for Afghans.
Can cultural institutions of trade be preserved
under the Taliban?
I regret to inform you that institutions of trade
and intellectual hubs in Afghanistan have never been westernised, yet are
ancient institutions which witnessed several civilizations arrive and leave for
trade.
In ancient times, the Afghans, Pashtun tribe more
specifically, were in and out of India and got themselves embroiled in
political upheavals leading to some being deported while others executed,
in Husain,
Iqbal. "Sectional President's Address: THE SOCIOLOGICAL HISTORY OF AN
IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY: THE AFGHANS IN MEDIEVAL INDIA." <i>Proceedings
of the Indian History Congress</i> 67 (2006): 209-16. Accessed August 24,
2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44147939.)
The Pashtuns were not the only ones to leave the
Afghan print in neighbouring countries, the Hotakis, a tribe living in
Afghanistan and Iranian territory , miraculously defeated the much bigger
and well equipped Ottoman Empire in the Ottoman-Hotaki War (1726-1727) and
ruled over Iran.
The money markets of today are still ramified across Central Asia, the Punjab region and Europe in the same manner as the slave trade was ramified in the early 19th century in Afghanistan.
We have also intellectual legacy of Afghans in the
field of Maths and Theology.
All these achievements, in the military,
international expansion, financial markets, and science disciplines were
achieved without Western influence.
By other words, Afghanistan is a country of vital
importance in Central Asia in its own merit and not just by its position in
giving the Slavs access to the Middle East and South East Asia markets.
This is the perspective the international media and
all the international agents should be looking at how they can support the
Afghan people, by accelerating the removal of anti-personal mining, but
also recognising that Afghanistan played and plays a historical role in the
region and as such cannot be left nor ostracised due to the perception that the
people itself does not matter.
Because just like the Afghan males now out of the
Iranian criminal system, and the ones returning from Syria and Iraq are
vulnerable to credit offers by military factories in China, etc, the other
Afghans inherited a cultural and financial legacy that make them vital to the well-functioning
of balance powers in the region - in their own merit.
Perhaps, the way to materialise this recommended perspective,
is to nourish their wellbeing and welfare and provide Aid, humanitarian aid, in
the form of food and pharmaceutical products, so the wounded can heal and the
brothers can fraternise as brothers but not in arms.
Ariane Brito
ArianeBrito2021@Copyrights.AllRightsReserved
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