UN freezes Afghan de-mining

Few countries are as plagued by mines

The United Nations has suspended mine clearance operations on the road between the Afghan capital Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar - a vital trade route.

It has also ordered staff not to travel by road in some southern areas after attacks on UN vehicles left one Afghan dead and three wounded.

The ban affects the provinces of Zabul, Oruzgan and parts of Helmand.

UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has described the recent attacks as brutal and said the perpetrators were enemies of the Afghan people.

In addition to the travel ban in the south, the UN announced a 0600-1800 curfew for road missions anywhere in the country.

• On 3 May, gunmen shot and killed the driver of a car belonging to a local de-mining agency in Wardak Province on the Kabul-Kandahar road, also wounding a passenger
  

• On 5 May, six gunmen stopped a car belonging to a UN-funded de-mining agency further south on the same road, shooting and wounding two employees

They had reportedly been looking for foreign aid workers

"This is one of the most severe examples of violence against the programme in the last 13 years of operations," said UN mine action country manager Dan Kelly.

"And we feel we have no choice but to protect de-miners from future violent attacks by ceasing operations in areas that are not adequately patrolled and secured."

Mr Kelly said one of the wounded Afghans was in a coma.

He added that he did not believe the attacks had been specifically aimed at de-miners but gunmen were picking on white cars and anyone working for foreigners or Afghan aid groups, who often use white vehicles.

Key road

After decades of war, Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.

Zabul, in the heartland of the ousted Taleban regime, is reported to be one of the country's most lawless areas.

An Italian national was killed there in April and a Salvadorean Red Cross worker was killed in the neighbouring province of Kandahar in late March.

Foreign aid donors have promised to repair the road from Kabul to Kandahar this year in one of the most high-profile reconstruction projects since the fall of the Taleban in late 2001.