Mohamed Qasims mind was on an upcoming hunting trip as he jumped over the family’s garden wall. An everyday routine, a set of movements so familiar they hardly registered in Qasims mind, as he planned the upcoming trip in his thoughts. But jumping a wall would never be a familiar routine for Qasim again. Outside the wall his left foot landed heavily on a landmine that blew his leg off just below the knee.

Friends and family brought Qasim in a wheelbarrow to the nearby village Said and from there to a hospital in Kabul. He returned to his village Akakhil a month later with a prosthetic where his left leg had once been.

It was not the first time a landmine had claimed a victim in the area. But this time the villagers took action and asked for help to solve the problem. And in 2009 Danish Demining Group (DDG) began clearing the area and providing Mine Risk Education to the villagers.

“After our villagers were educated by the Mine Risk Education teams of DDG there haven’t been any accidents as a result of mines or ammunition” Mohamad Zaman, Qasims uncle and a village elder of Akakhil, says.

Once the area was cleared by DDG, the village began planting crops, and Haji Mohamed Zaman reports that the village managed to produce 10 tons of wheat in 2009 “This year we hope to reach 20 ton” Haji Mohamed Zaman adds with a grain of caution.

Every month around 40 Afghans are killed or maimed by landmines or unexploded ammunition. In 12 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces close to 75% of the land is littered by mines and unexploded ammunition.

DDG has a total of 570 international and local staff members working with mine clearing and mine risk education in Afghanistan.

Related News:

 Reducing weapons – reducing conflicts - 12-05-10 10:04

Links:

www.danishdemininggroup.dk

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