November 5, 2001	Monday	haba’an 18, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: The United Nations on Saturday warned Afghans to keep away from the unexploded ordinance of which 30 per cent accumulated during the recent US attacks.

Speaking at a news conference here on Saturday, the manager of UN Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan, Dan Kelly, said that the local staff of the UN and quick reaction teams are not trained to deal with the latest ammunition being used by the coalition forces.

“This could pose a risk to the people, especially those on the move,” he said.

To deal with the new threat, he said, MAPA is launching a training process in which 1,000 persons would be trained in Quetta and 3,000 in Peshawar starting from next week.

Responding to a question about reports of civilian casualties, the official said that one person was killed and 25 of the 45 houses were damaged in a city North East of Herat as a result of US bombings.

About the extent of area under land mines threat in Afghanistan, Dan Kelly said 732 square kilometres of territory, excluding the northern regions are infested with mines. About 40 to 100 casualties occur every month of which 50 per cent die in the fields, he said.

WFP: A World Food Programme spokesperson said that the agency is planning air drops of food into Afghanistan. “The WFP is looking at air strips which could be used.” A special airlift operation cell is operating in Islamabad to coordinate the air drops in Afghanistan, the spokesperson said.

Answering a question, the spokesperson said that the WFP packets do not resemble the packets which the Americans are dropping. The WFP food bags weigh 50 kg, she said.