UN appeal to clear Afghan mines

The UN says it urgently needs $500m to continue clearing landmines and other unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan.

It says the money is needed to meet international commitments to clear the country of such material by 2013.

The UN mine clearing agency head in Afghanistan said operations had been scaled back in parts of the country due to a recent drop in funding.

Afghanistan is one of the world's most heavily mined countries, with people regularly killed and injured by them.

Hundreds of thousands of mines have been laid since the Soviet invasion in 1979.