British charity returns to clear mines

A British charity in Afghanistan will go back to work today clearing the most mined parts of the most mined country in the world. More than 400 Afghan staff members of the Halo Trust will move from Kabul to the north to make safe the lethal debris of 22 years of war, much of it buried in frozen ground.

There are anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, unexploded artillery and tank shells, hand grenades and rocket-propelled ones and US cluster bombs, from the time the Afghans fought the Russians, fought each other and then the Americans. There are believed to be 20 million mines in Afghanistan, with a heavy concentration around Kabul and the Tajikistan and Ujzbekistan borders. About 90 people are hurt by mines every month.

In the past two weeks, mines have severely wounded four allied soldiers, one British and three Americans. A Royal Engineer clearing mines at Bagram air base lost a leg, and may lose an eye. And an Americans, wounded by a mine at Kandahar airport, has lost a leg.

Several acres around the Qala Jangi fort near Mazar-i-Sharif are thick with dangerous explosives. US planes bombing Taliban and rebellious al-Qa'ida prisoners also detonated a large ammunition dump.

Halo, which had been working in Afghanistan since 1998, is clearing the 1.7-mile Salang Tunnel, a vital artery in the Hindu Kush, blown up three years ago. "All our volunteers are Afghans and they come from all kinds of backgrounds, doctors, pilots, engineers, teachers," said Bob Gannon, a Halo mine-clearance instructor. "They are incredibly brave. We are just providing the advice.''

Tom Dibb, the desk officer and a former infantryman, added: "They get $105 (£73) a month for this. Not a lot for risking your life, is it? We are hoping to get this raised to $130."