Image Gallery 2008
28 October 2008
ISAF Mine Action Centre
Civilians who previously risked life and limb scrounging for scrap metal in Afghanistan’s minefields now have an opportunity to enjoy a safer life and work in paid jobs, thanks to efforts led by an Australian Army officer.
Landmines continue to saturate the landscape of Afghanistan more than any other country on Earth. Informed estimates suggest that as many as 20-million anti-personnel and anti-tank mines were laid during the Soviet occupation and the later conflict between the Taliban and Northern Alliance.
Over the past six years, more than 200,000 landmines have been cleared in and around Bagram Air Field in Northern Afghanistan, but it is a slow, tedious, dirty and dangerous job. Hundreds of Afghans are already employed as de-miners by government agencies and private contractors, but there are other civilians so poor, unskilled or young who are prepared to risk everything by venturing into the minefields in search of scrap metal.
Aware of the high rate of injuries caused by landmines being handled by non-qualified people, the Mine Action Centre – led by Australian Army Major Dave Bergman - began looking for ways to get the scavengers off the minefields near Bagram while still allowing them to make a living.
Major Bergman has been instrumental in establishing a pilot program which has resulted in mine victims being employed in safe jobs off the minefields and learning trade skills. He has also organised a medical outreach program to help civilians injured by landmines.
Up to two civilians per week are injured by landmine explosions in the Bagram area. Left untouched, the mines littering Afghanistan will still pose a danger decades from now. With the help of alternative employment programs which allow poor people to make a living in safety, it is hoped many of the mines lurking untouched in the soil will not find an innocent victim born years after the devices were laid.
| 20081015isaf0000000_001 Major Dave Bergman (right) and an Afghan de-miner discuss the method that will be employed to make safe an anti-personnel mine unearthed near Bagram Air Field in Northern Afghanistan. Major Bergman runs the base’s Mine Action Centre, charged with the responsibility of reducing the threat from the mines that litter the landscape throughout the area. (Date taken: 14 August 2006) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081015isaf0000000_002 A purpose-built de-mining machine known as a Casspir emerges from a dust cloud caused by an exploding anti-personnel mine near Bagram Air Field in Northern Afghanistan. The Casspir is used to clear some mine fields, thereby reducing the risk posed to soldiers and civilian contractors through the alternative hands-on approach which involves probing and digging for mines. Afghanistan remains the most mined country on Earth following years of occupation by the Soviets and the ensuing conflict between the Taliban and Northern Alliance. (Date taken: 15 October 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081015isaf0000000_003 Major Dave Bergman chats with Afghan Mr Kahir Khan who has been blown-up four times while trying to scrounge scrap metal from live landmines near Bagram Air Field. Major Bergman has been instrumental in setting up a program which offers alternative employment to local people who have risked their lives to make a living by gathering scrap metal in the minefields. Mr Kahir Khan has a prosthetic leg. He is now working in a safe and secure metal recycling centre. A purpose-built de-mining machine known as a Casspir is parked in the background. It offers a safer way of clearing the former battlefields of landmines. (Date taken: 15 October 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081015isaf0000000_004 An Afghan de-miner carefully digs his way along a mine line near Bagram Air Field, a place of great strategic importance and heavy fighting during the Soviet occupation and the later conflict between the Taliban and Northern Alliance. Not all de-mining can be done mechanically. The dirty, dangerous and tedious task of manual de-mining employs several hundred Afghan people in the Bagram area. More than 200,000 land mines have been removed from the area near Bagram over the past six years, allowing 72,000 refugees to return to their homes. The Mine Action Centre, led by Australian Army Major Dave Bergman, works closely with civilian contractors as it goes about its job of reducing the risk posed by landmines. (Date taken: 15 October 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081015isaf0000000_005 Major Dave Bergman surveys a minefield with the help of Mr Kahir Khan, an Afghan man who has been blown-up four times while trying to scrounge scrap metal from live landmines near Bagram Air Field. Major Bergman has been instrumental in setting up a program which offers alternative employment to local people who have risked their lives to make a living by gathering scrap metal in the minefields. Mr Kahir Khan has a prosthetic leg. He is now working in a safe and secure metal recycling centre. (Date taken: 15 October 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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