Pakistan flood victims face drifted landmines

Pakistan’s worst flooding in 80 years, after devastating dozens of cities and towns across the country, now poses an extra danger to millions of stranded people and dozens of relief missions with landmines drifted from troubled northern tribal areas and the disputed Kashmir region.

Authorities in Islamabad said that scores of landmines drifted by floods from restive tribal areas and Kashmir posed serious threats to people living in the lowland, especially on the plains of Punjab.

“People were warned against touching or tinkering with suspected things and were urged to watch and prevent children from touching and playing with unknown objects and inform authorities immediately in case of any suspicion,” said a top security official in Islamabad who refuses to be named.

International aid workers say three landmines exploded in Dera Ismail Khan, a city in the flood-hit Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, but without causing casualties or damage.

Aid workers and bomb disposal squads fear that potentially drifted landmines could, however, cause serious damage and casualties, when millions of displaced people return to their homes after the flood waters recede.

Bomb disposal squad officials say they face an uphill task of defusing scores of theses landmines.

“Only the Pakistanis have begun doing this perilous job as none of the international agencies including the UN or ICRC have offered them any assistance so far,” said Shafqat Malik, head of the bomb disposal squad in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa.

Other officials criticized international agencies and the Pakistani government for not giving the danger of landmines enough attention.

Pakistan used landmines in three wars with India and in its 1979 conflict with the Soviet Union over Afghanistan and continues to deploy landmines to protect its borders, according to Disabled Peoples International.

The international NGO reported that in 2003 there were at least 138 new landmine/UXO casualties of which there were 48 deaths and 90 serious injuries.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) reported that from 2000 to 2003, there were 428 new landmine/UXO casualties in the border areas with India and Afghanistan. Between January to June 2004, 32 new landmine casualties were reported by the Landmine Monitor.