UN reports four casualties amid ongoing efforts to rid Kabul of mines

The United Nations today reported four recent demining casualties resulting from ongoing efforts to rid Kabul of the deadly threat posed by unexploded ordnance.

One Afghan de-miner was killed and three injured in Kabul on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the UN Coordinator for Afghanistan. "They were staff of Halo Trust, one of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) under the umbrella of the UN Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan," Stephanie Bunker told reporters in Islamabad.

The accident occurred east of Kabul at a destruction area, featuring a "big open pit" for destroying unexploded ordnance. "The staff were moving some of the unexploded ordnance dropped by coalition forces in Kabul City into this pit when one piece of ordnance exploded," said Ms. Bunker.

Meanwhile, inside Afghanistan, the volatile security situation has prevented the UN from deploying international relief staff in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, but UN World Food Programme (WFP) local staff have been continuously working with the International Rescue Committee to deliver desperately needed food for 15,000 internal displaced people in the area.

“This is only a small fraction of the estimated 250,000 people in the city of Mazar who need assistance,” said Lindsey Davies, a UN spokesman in Islamabad, adding that last month, WFP had delivered a monthly ration of wheat flour to 120,000 people.