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http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/040325/w032546.html
KABUL (CP) - Workers melted the last of Kabul‘s known landmine stocks Thursday, recasting them into iron grills for wood-burning stoves.
Enthusiastic Afghan workers at a bombed-out industrial complex in Kabul tossed 2,490 of the defused iron mine casings into a coal-fired blast furnace, putting a fiery end to a project led by Canada to eliminate the city‘s deadly mine caches. Military leaders could not resist playing on the Old Testament passage that says warring people will beat their swords into ploughshares when peace comes.
"The original idea was to make coins but when I came out here I saw that might require a bit too much finesse," said Maj. Steve Kelly, the Canadian project officer for the International Assistance Security Force.
"To be able to take landmines and do anything useful with them is a good symbol to show the Afghan people are tired of the implements of war."
Canada will spend $10 million on clearing mines in Afghanistan this year, including the pilot project to eliminate a total of 4,266 landmines from dozens of storage areas around Kabul.
Mine experts hope the project will be the model for eliminating thousands of other mines in the rest of Afghanistan. The Red Cross estimates about 100 people are killed or injured by explosive devices every month.
Patrick Fruchet, spokesman for the United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan, said the meltdown is another step in Afghanistan‘s effort toward meeting the country‘s commitment under the Ottawa Convention to eliminate all mines by 2007.
"It‘s also tremendously important step for Afghanistan to lessen insecurity in the country," said Fruchet.
Stockpiles risk falling into the wrong hands, Fruchet said. He pointed to a recent example where rural people used landmines in a property dispute.
"There is no evidence of anybody laying mines for personal protection around Kabul," he said. "But in a country like Afghanistan with hundreds of stockpiles of all kinds of weapons, these things can happen."
Canadians are deeply involved in de-mining in Afghanistan, starting with Kelly and his brother, Dan Kelly, two men who were trained by the Canadian military as combat engineers.
Steve is still in the military working on de-mining, while Dan retired and is now head of the United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan. The men hail from Miramichi, N.B., and now live in Kingston, Ont.
"One of your main jobs as an engineer is to lay mines," said Steve Kelly. "But we‘re both on the other side of it now. Once you see the damage these things do, you start to not care much for them after a while."
Canada has been a driving force in international anti-landmine efforts since the 1990s, culminating in the Ottawa Convention anti-landmine treaty.
"Canada has remained a leader in the field, so I think there is a predisposition for Canadians to get involved and work in the sector," said Fruchet, who is from Montreal.
© The Canadian Press, 2004
KABUL (CP) - Workers melted the last of Kabul‘s known landmine stocks Thursday, recasting them into iron grills for wood-burning stoves.
Enthusiastic Afghan workers at a bombed-out industrial complex in Kabul tossed 2,490 of the defused iron mine casings into a coal-fired blast furnace, putting a fiery end to a project led by Canada to eliminate the city‘s deadly mine caches. Military leaders could not resist playing on the Old Testament passage that says warring people will beat their swords into ploughshares when peace comes.
"The original idea was to make coins but when I came out here I saw that might require a bit too much finesse," said Maj. Steve Kelly, the Canadian project officer for the International Assistance Security Force.
"To be able to take landmines and do anything useful with them is a good symbol to show the Afghan people are tired of the implements of war."
Canada will spend $10 million on clearing mines in Afghanistan this year, including the pilot project to eliminate a total of 4,266 landmines from dozens of storage areas around Kabul.
Mine experts hope the project will be the model for eliminating thousands of other mines in the rest of Afghanistan. The Red Cross estimates about 100 people are killed or injured by explosive devices every month.
Patrick Fruchet, spokesman for the United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan, said the meltdown is another step in Afghanistan‘s effort toward meeting the country‘s commitment under the Ottawa Convention to eliminate all mines by 2007.
"It‘s also tremendously important step for Afghanistan to lessen insecurity in the country," said Fruchet.
Stockpiles risk falling into the wrong hands, Fruchet said. He pointed to a recent example where rural people used landmines in a property dispute.
"There is no evidence of anybody laying mines for personal protection around Kabul," he said. "But in a country like Afghanistan with hundreds of stockpiles of all kinds of weapons, these things can happen."
Canadians are deeply involved in de-mining in Afghanistan, starting with Kelly and his brother, Dan Kelly, two men who were trained by the Canadian military as combat engineers.
Steve is still in the military working on de-mining, while Dan retired and is now head of the United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan. The men hail from Miramichi, N.B., and now live in Kingston, Ont.
"One of your main jobs as an engineer is to lay mines," said Steve Kelly. "But we‘re both on the other side of it now. Once you see the damage these things do, you start to not care much for them after a while."
Canada has been a driving force in international anti-landmine efforts since the 1990s, culminating in the Ottawa Convention anti-landmine treaty.
"Canada has remained a leader in the field, so I think there is a predisposition for Canadians to get involved and work in the sector," said Fruchet, who is from Montreal.
© The Canadian Press, 2004
