Four die in Afghan mine blasts
Bagram: Heavily mined during the Soviet occupation
At least four Afghan mine clearers have been killed by two blasts close to the Bagram air base in Afghanistan.
This is the worst incident for our agency in 12 years
Noor-ul-Haq
Afghan mine clearing agency
The first man died after triggering an anti-personnel mine he was trying to disarm near the perimeter of the base where nearly 8,000 US troops are stationed.
An ambulance was sent to the scene, but on its way back struck an anti-tank mine, killing another three people and injuring as many as 15 others.
The dead all worked for the Afghan Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA).
Twenty-nine people were injured, including five from the MCPA and six from the Danish De-Mining Group, as well as a number of local Afghans.
In the capital, Kabul, a bomb killed at least one person and injured several others, including a British soldier.
Heavily mined
The Bagram deaths have raised questions about whether the anti-tank mine was laid recently.
The ambulance hit the mine on a busy road.
Afghanistan is the most heavily mined country in the world
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said: "This obviously raises the possibility that the mine was put there specially."
Bagram was heavily mined during Afghanistan's war against Soviet occupation in the 1980s.
It is now the base for US troops tracking Taleban and al-Qaeda militants who might still be operating inside Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is considered the world's most heavily-mined country.
More than 7,000 Afghans are trained as mine clearers, and are working to clear 360 square kilometres of high priority areas within 10 years.
Deadly devices
Noor-ul-Haq, deputy director of the MCPA said: "This is the worst incident for our agency in 12 years of operating in Afghanistan."
All but two of Afghanistan's 29 provinces are littered with the deadly devices, and there is a disproportionately large number of amputees on the streets of cities like Kandahar, Herat and Kabul.
The majority of the mines were laid by Soviet forces and their local allies between 1979 and 1992.
The Kabul explosion happened near the former Soviet embassy. A bomb had been planted in a pushcart.
British peacekeepers were driving past when the blast occured, and their vehicle was hit by debris.
"One British soldier was slightly injured in the wrist," said Major James Kelly, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).
Police have been searching unsuccessfully for those behind a series of similar explosions in Kabul over the last few weeks.
news.bbc.co.uk |
