LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – On the heels of President Barack Obama’s announcement that 30,000 more U.S. troops will be heading to Afghanistan, it’s important to remember one thing that makes the fight there so difficult and unique: Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.
However, one of the few success stories to be found here is the slow, but steady, demining of the war-ravaged landscape by an unlikely ally – specially trained dogs.
“We have cleared 60 percent of the country,” said Dr. Mohammad Shohab Hakimi, the director of the Mine Detection Center in Kabul, referring to the Mine Action Program in Afghanistan, overseen by the United Nations. The program is focused on locating and disabling mines planted during the war with the Soviet Union (1979-89) and the era of mujahideen fighting that followed in the 1990s.
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| VIDEO: Dogs sniff out deadly mines in Afghanistan |
Leading the way is the Mine Detection Center, whose record for accuracy, speed, and safety is rooted in its use of mine-detection dogs. The only organization of its kind in Afghanistan, the center was established in 1989 – with U.S. government funding – by Hakimi and other Afghans refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan.
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