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15 January 2015 The United Nations-supported Mine Action Programme in Afghanistan (MAPA) has said today that while 2014 could prove to have been a major turning point in the countrys long and tortured history, it was also a year that had inflicted immense and unprecedented tragedy on the programmes personnel.

Over the year, MAPA was directly affected by 37 security incidents that resulted in 34 deaths among its personnel and 27 injuries, with an attack on a de-mining project near to a copper mine in Logar province in June and a second in Helmand province in December accounting for 19 of the deaths and nine injuries.

The total of 34 de-miners killed in 2014 is almost equal to the total number over the previous four years combined, said a press statement released by the Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan (MACCA), which is managed by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS).

MACCAs statement also countered reports in the Afghan media that two recent attacks on de-miners working for the Programme were carried out because they were clearing IEDs in an area of ongoing conflict.

We refute this explanation and once again condemn these attacks, said the statement, referring to the December attack in Helmand province and another in Logar province on 9 January. The clearance of IEDs where fighting continues is not the responsibility of MAPA and it has never conducted such clearance.

The statement notes that MAPA is involved in clearing explosive hazards but only in cases where fighting in an area has ended and internally displaced people have returned to their homes and requested the clearing of lands. In such instances clearance goes ahead only to improve public safety and when it avoids interference in active conflict.

The preservation of MAPAs neutrality is key to its continued services to communities in Afghanistan, said the statement, stressing that support from the people was paramount to the Programmes enduring success and resilience. MAPA has never and will never implement any operations that go against that policy.

One of the largest mine action programmes in the world and the first ever humanitarian, non-military programme, MAPA comprises 50 national and international partners from commercial and non-profit spheres, with a 26 year history of cooperation that has seen over 23,000 hazardous areas cleared and a resulting decline in civilian casualties by almost 80 per cent.

MAPA has maintained its humanitarian neutrality throughout its history, working with all Governments and operating to ensure the safety of Afghan civilians.

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Afghanistan: UN-backed mine clearing project reports 34 killed during 2014