Contaminated by: landmines (massive contamination), cluster munition remnants (medium contamination), and other unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Article 5 deadline: 1 March 2023
(Not on track to meet deadline)

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 deadline: 1 March 2022
(Unclear whether on track to meet deadline)

Summary

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan contends with a total of nearly 600km² of known hazardous area, including 225km² of mined area containing antipersonnel mines, 277km² of mined area containing antivehicle mines, and 89km² of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination, which do not include NATO firing ranges or improvised mine contamination. In 2016, 49.2km² of mine contamination was cleared and 19,007 antipersonnel mines were destroyed.

No release of the 6.86 km² area confirmed to be contaminated by cluster munition remnants occurred in 2016, partly due to insecurity in affected areas and a downturn in funding. However, 1.88km² of previously unrecorded cluster munition-contaminated land was cleared in 2016 and 359 submunitions were destroyed. From December 2016 to May 2017, 1.28km² of confirmed cluster munition-contaminated land was cleared, resulting in the reduction of reported cluster munition contamination to 5.57km² as of May 2017.

Recommendations for action

• Afghanistan should finalize and adopt a national mine action law.
• The Mine Action Coordination Center of Afghanistan (MACCA) should set revised timelines for clearance of cluster munition remnants and landmines reflecting reduced levels of donor funding. It should clarify the implications for fulfilling its extended Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline.
• Afghanistan should report the extent of improvised mine contamination, and develop policies and strategies to address this contamination, in line with its Article 5 obligations.
• Afghanistan should amend reporting forms to disaggregate clearance of cluster munition remnants from other UXO in line with the requirements of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Mine and ERW Contamination (see below for cluster munition contamination)

Afghanistan is one of the countries most affected by mines and ERW, mainly the result of the decade-long war of resistance that followed the Soviet invasion of 1979, the 1992–1996 internal armed conflict, and the United States (US)-led coalition intervention in late 2001, which added considerable quantities of UXO.

At the end of 2016, Afghanistan had 225km² of antipersonnel mine contamination, representing about 38% of total reported hazard from explosive weapons.[1] This is a decrease on the 251km² of antipersonnel mine contamination reported at the end of 2015. Northeast and central provinces account for more than half Afghanistan’s antipersonnel mine contamination, with Kabul, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Paktia, and Panjshir provinces among the most affected.[2]

Afghanistan also had 277km² of antivehicle mine contamination at the end of 2016, particularly affecting southern and central provinces, and 89km² affected by ERW. The estimates, however, do not include areas affected by improvised landmines, or former NATO/International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) firing ranges. Fifty-eight firing ranges covering 125km² remained to be surveyed and cleared as of April 2017.[3]

Remaining contamination in 2013–2016[4]

* Abandoned devices only; N/R = not recorded
** Includes 17 areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants (affecting 5.57km² as of May 2017)

Antipersonnel mine contamination by region as of end 2016[5]

Improvised mines

The “IED” contamination of 5.18km² reported by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS)/Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (DMAC) in 2015 (see top table above) represented only “abandoned” devices and did not reflect the full extent of contamination by victim-activated devices that are prohibited as antipersonnel mines under the Mine Ban Treaty and must be cleared as required by Article 5. A “preliminary survey” conducted in 18 provinces in 2016 at the request of the National Security Council identified 270 newly contaminated areas, mostly contaminated by IEDs and ERW, covering an area of around 420km²,[6] including about 220km² affected by pressure-plate IEDs (PPIEDs), which are landmines.[7] It was reported in the Mine Action Program of Afghanistan (MAPA) operational work plan for 2017 that the data had not been entered into the International Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database and the area required further non-technical survey.[8]

Cluster Munition Contamination

As of May 2017, Afghanistan reported 17 cluster munition-contaminated areas in four provinces covering a total area of 5,572,573m² (5.57km²). Clearance commenced on one site in late December 2016, resulting in a decrease from 6,855,393m² (6.86km²), a level which had been unchanged since April 2015. Nearly half of the contamination was in one district of northeastern Takhar province.[9]

Cluster munition contamination (as of November 2016)[10]

All sites are affected by remnants of the 1,228 cluster munitions containing some 248,056 BLU-97B submunitions dropped by the United States (US) between October 2001 and early 2002.[11] Cluster munition remnants are said to block access to grazing and agricultural land.[12]

Cluster munition contamination, however, is more widespread than the clearly defined US cluster strike sites, as submunitions were found in other areas during 2016. Soviet forces used cluster munitions during the decade-long war of resistance to the Soviet-backed government and demining operators continue to find unexploded submunitions on demining and battle area clearance (BAC) tasks.[13]

Program Management

The Mine Action Programme of Afghanisation (MAPA) is managed by the Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (DMAC), a department of the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA), reporting to the Office of the Second Vice-President. It receives operational support in planning, priority-setting, and information management from the UN Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (UNMACA), which changed its name to “UNMAS in support of DMAC” (UNMAS/DMAC) in November 2016.[14]

The present structure is the outcome of a transition from international management of mine action to national ownership. From 2001, this was a project of UNMAS and under international management.[15] In October 2016, UNMAS formally handed leadership of the program over to DMAC. The change has been accompanied by increased attention to mine action by the Office of the President and is expected to raise the profile of mine action in national policy-making.[16]

By the end of 2016, DMAC had 16 staff, but was preparing to expand to 35 in 2017. The staff of UNMAS/DMAC increased in 2016 to 201, of whom six were international staff. By July 2017, all former UNMACA staff, except department heads, were due to transfer to contracts bringing them under DMAC management and reporting directly to DMAC. Department heads were due to continue as UNMAS advisers to DMAC until also coming under DMAC management by the end of 2018.[17]

Legislation

A technical committee comprising concerned ministries and the former UNMACA drafted a mine action law to be included as an annex to a 2005 law on firearms and explosive materials. The draft was approved by the Office of the President and passed to the Ministry of Justice more than two years ago but as of October 2017 it remained stuck in the Ministry of Justice.[18]

Strategic planning

Afghanistan’s Article 5 deadline extension request, submitted in March 2012 and revised in August of that year, set out a plan to clear all known areas contaminated by mines and ERW by March 2023. It consolidated the 4,442 mine and ERW hazards then remaining into 308 projects, an approach intended to facilitate monitoring of progress and resource mobilization. Projects would be tackled according to their priority as determined by their impact, measured against a set of impact indicators.[19] However, donor funding of mine action in Afghanistan has fallen sharply since the extension request was drafted, forcing DMAC to adjust its targets.

A five-year plan for 2016–2020, adopted in January 2016, set four strategic goals:[20]

• Facilitate development;
• Engage with other sectors;
• Reduce the impact of mines and ERW, and mitigate the impact of mine incidents; and
• Mainstream gender and diversity to ensure participation in, and shared benefits of, mine action.

The plan also set out 33 objectives and 108 associated actions. These included incorporating mine action into Afghanistan’s National Priority Programs and Sustainable Development Goals; integrating mine action into the activities of line ministries, improving fundraising, completing survey, and keeping implementation of Afghanistan’s Article 5 extension on track. A mid-2015 review concluded that the MAPA needed US$391 million to implement the plan, including $353 million for clearance, almost $25 million for “coordination” (quality assurance, planning and prioritization, information management, advocacy, and resource mobilization), $3.6 million for survey, and $5.6 million for risk education.[21]

During 2017 the development of a strategy and operating framework was under discussion to enable clearance of improvised mines without jeopardizing operators’ neutrality, safety, and security. A small number of implementing partners have hitherto conducted only limited clearance of devices that have been “abandoned.”[22]

The MAPA continued to set clearance targets based on what Afghanistan would need to fulfil its 2023 Article 5 clearance deadline rather than on available resources. The operational work plan for 1396 (2016–2017) called for release of 133km², including 622 mined areas containing antipersonnel mines covering 51km², 198 areas with antivehicle mines covering 21km², and 92 BAC tasks covering 57km², not including firing-range clearance. Those operations would release 32 districts of mines/ERW if no additional hazards were located, but required funding of $110 million, including $94.6 million for land release.[23] However, total funding received in Afghan Year 1395 (2016–2017) amounted to only $40.5 million.[24] (See the Support for Mine Action profile for further details.)

Afghanistan has prepared a number of plans for clearing part or all of its cluster munition hazards, but each time implementation was overtaken by other priorities. At the end of 2016, the government circulated a proposal to donors to complete clearance of all 17 identified sites of cluster munition contamination, at a cost of $1.85 million.[25]

Operators

Clearance of explosive contamination is conducted by five long-established national and two international NGOs. The Afghan NGOs are: Afghan Technical Consultants (ATC), Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA), Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA), Mine Detection and Dog Centre (MDC), and the Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR). AREA, a national NGO accredited in 2014, became operational at the end of 2016.[26]

Three national operators use community-based demining teams in areas were insecurity inhibit demining by their own teams. By the end of 2016, a total of 38 community-based demining teams were operating, a decrease from 49 the previous year. AREA supported nine teams in Kabul and northeastern Nangahar provinces, while DAFA (13 teams) and MDC (16 teams) deployed them in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.[27]

The most active international NGOs are Danish Demining Group (DDG) and The HALO Trust, while the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) has had a small operation near the border with Tajikistan. Janus Demining Afghanistan (previously Sterling International) has been contracted to undertake clearance of firing ranges used by militaries serving with the NATO-led ISAF.[28]

Land Release (mines and ERW)

Although the MAPA received less funding, mine clearance increased, with almost 49.2km² cleared in 2016, compared to 35km² in 2015. Three-times as many antipersonnel mines (19,007) were destroyed in 2016 than in the previous year. Operators also released 7.3km² of battle area in 2016, 40% more than the previous year.[29]

UNMAS/DMAC attributed the upturn to increased operational efficiency, better application of land release methodologies by implementing partners, and greater competitiveness among operators bidding for projects. It reported that clearance costs per square meter dropped from US$0.68 to US$0.58.[30]

Survey in 2016 (mines and ERW)

Afghanistan started a nationwide “Mine and ERW Impact Free Community Survey” (MEIFCS) in May 2012, envisaging it would take two years to complete. In 2017, almost six years later, the MAPA reported the survey had been completed in 285 of 400 districts. In 2017, survey was under way in 10 more districts.[31]

In 2016, HALO operated seven teams conducting survey in Herat and Kandahar provinces and MCPA deployed 12 teams in 14 provinces. The FSD operated two teams in Badakhshan province.

Non-technical survey resulted in the cancelation and reduction of 4km² in 2016, however the continuing MEIFCS survey also added 87km² of previously unidentified contamination, of which antipersonnel mined areas accounted for 19.4km²,mined areas with antivehicle mines for 19.8km², and battle area for 47.8km².[32]

Cancelation of SHAs and reduction of CHA by non-technical survey in 2016[33]

Note: SHAs = suspected hazardous areas; CHA = confirmed hazardous area.

New suspected or confirmed mined and battle areas identified in 2016[34]

Note: SHAs = suspected hazardous areas; CHA = confirmed hazardous area.

Among the key factors prolonging the survey was the need to cover far more communities than planned. By March 2017, MEIFICS teams had surveyed 1,297 communities that were known to be affected and 21,454 where the presence of ERW was unknown, but it had also surveyed 26,650 villages that were not listed in the official gazetteer on which the survey was based but that were identified as the survey progressed. Two other key factors were insecurity and lower donor funding.[35]

Clearance in 2016 (mines and ERW)

Clearance covered 49.25km² of mined area in 2016. Five Afghan implementing partners accounted for most of the increase in land released through clearance in 2016. The five implementing partners[36] cleared 31.4km²,[37] up from less than 20km² in 2015 and amounting to nearly two-thirds of the 2016 total.[38]

Mine clearance in 2016[39]

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle; UXO = unexploded ordnance.

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

None of the reported 17 cluster munition-contaminated areas were released in 2016, reflecting insecurity in many of the areas as well as competing priorities at a time when the mine action program was dealing with a sharp downturn in funding.[40]

However, HALO destroyed a total of 359 submunitions in the course of conducting a number of different operations in 2016. This included 65 submunitions destroyed in clearance of two battle areas covering 1.88km² and three submunitions destroyed in mine clearance operations. Explosive ordnance and conventional weapons disposal teams located and destroyed 291 submunitions during 152 call-outs. The submunitions found, with a few exceptions, were from the former Soviet Union.[41] However, data from UNMAS/DMAC did not record destruction of any submunitions in 2016.[42]

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated areas in 2016[43]

AREA started work on one cluster munition task on 24 December 2016, and by May 2017, 1,282,820m² had been released.[44]

Deminer safety

In 2016, 16 deminer casualties were recorded by DMAC/UNMAS.[45] Insecurity inflicted a much higher number of casualties in 2015, with nine deminers killed and 10 injured in attacks by armed groups.[46]

In the first six months of 2017, UNAMA said it recorded no conflict-related attacks against humanitarian deminers that resulted in death or injury but anti-government elements abducted four employees of an unspecified demining organization for ransom. They were released two days later after the intervention of community elders.[47]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the 10-year extension granted by States Parties in 2013), Afghanistan is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2023.

Afghanistan submitted an extension request in 2012 providing for clearance not just of antipersonnel mines but all ERW by 2023. Four years into implementation of its request, Afghanistan’s prospects for meeting its deadline are fast disappearing because of a downturn in donor funding, resulting in reduced capacity of the MAPA and slower clearance; new discoveries of contamination; and the impact of continuing conflict.

At the end of 2016, estimated antipersonnel mine contamination was 225km², just 15km² less than at the start of the extension period. Moreover, this estimate does not take account of widespread use of victim-activated explosive devices, otherwise known as improvised mines, by armed anti-government groups, which qualify as antipersonnel mines and add to Afghanistan’s clearance obligations under Article 5. UNMAS/DMAC believes the number of devices is far fewer than the number of mass-produced mines but acknowledges that amid Afghanistan’s continuing conflict and narrowing humanitarian space, comprehensive survey of improvised mines is impossible, let alone clearance.[48]

Mine clearance in 2012–2016

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 Compliance

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Afghanistan is required to destroy all cluster munition remnants in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2022.

Afghanistan has the knowledge, capacity, and intent to meet this deadline, but achieving it is not a foregone conclusion. Afghanistan’s Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline extension request provided for clearance of all ERW, including unexploded submunitions, by 2020.[49]

UNMAS/DMAC has issued a call to donors to finance clearance of all remaining sites. However, clearance of cluster munition hazards had stalled in 2015 because they are located in areas that were too insecure for operators to access and it is still not clear whether all locations are sufficiently secure to permit clearance.[50] The extent of scattered cluster munition remnants suggests operators will continue to encounter residual contamination beyond the Article 4 clearance deadline, even if Afghanistan were to meet it.

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the mine action research in 2017, including on survey and clearance, and shared all its resulting landmine and cluster munition reports with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.