Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines: press release

ACBL press release

The Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines (ACBL) in the series of its campaign activities held in Afghan cities through Sep. 24 and to Oct 23 1998, the month long consolidated campaign against landmines, has also set off a mine-victims cross-country caravan from Jalalabad to Herat.

The campaign month was officially launched in Jalalabad on 24th Sept 98. Since then tournaments of sports and cycle race among the disabled have been held in collaboration with an Afghan NGO AABRAR. A caravan of mine-victims departed Jalalabad on Sat last and after passing through Laghman it arrived Kabul on Monday 5 Oct, 98. Through the twenty days long trip on war damaged country roads from east of the country to its western city Herat, the 20 mine-victims caravan participants in two mini-buses will

pass through various small and large Afghan towns and will hold certain anti-landmine campaign activities, such as special sports, mine awareness and speaches before it will reach Herat.

Through ACBL sport tournamnets, 12 teams are competing in volleyball games in Jalalabad. There will be sports and games and mine exhibitions in Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat until 23 Oct 98.

Mine victim's day was marked in Kabul on 30 Sept 98. where among the campaigners, NGO staff in Kabul and public, higher officials of the Taliban authorities also attended the gatherings. In another city in the south of the country, Gardez, the local sub-committee has marked mine victim's day, today 6 oct afternoon.

ACBL had planned activities in other cities like Bamiyan, mazar and Faizabad in the north of the country, but due to latest developments there and lack of easy accessibility these activities are postpond until further.

Dr Najimi