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Unexploded bombs litter village Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20011024/wl/afghanistan_trapped_village_1.html http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20011024/wl/afghanistan_trapped_village_1.html Wednesday October 24 5:09 PM ET U.N.:Unexploded Bombs Litter Village By KAREN SLOAN, Associated Press Writer ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Unexploded bombs from a U.S. air raid have trapped villagers in a west Afghan village, leaving them afraid to venture from their homes, U.N. officials said Wednesday. U.N. mine-removal officials urgently appealed to the U.S. military for information about munitions dropped at Shaker Qala and elsewhere. ``The villagers have a lot to be afraid of because these bomblets, if they did not explode, are very dangerous,'' said Dan Kelly, manager of a U.N. mine removal program for Afghanistan. ``And they can explode if the villagers so much as touch them,'' Kelly told reporters. A Pentagon official speaking on condition of anonymity said the U.S. military does not get involved in clearing unexploded weapons, and did not do so in the 1999 conflict over Kosovo. Shaker Qala is located outside the western Afghan city of Herat and only hundreds of yards from a military camp. U.N. officials believe the bombardment of the area Monday included cluster bombs - munitions that normally carry up to 200 three-pound bomblets, Kelly said. A group of villagers appeared at the U.N. mine removal offices in Herat the next morning, saying the soda can-sized devices littered their village, U.N. spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker said. ``They were afraid,'' Bunker said. Local mine-removal workers are trying to clear paths for villagers so they can leave their homes and go about daily activities, Kelly said. For now, workers are simply piling sandbags around them, he said. ``The Afghan civilians are not aware of what kind of weapon it is. Our people that do survey work and the people that do clearance do not know how to destroy it safely,'' Kelly said. Cluster bomblets spray shrapnel at the velocity of a bullet, and can set fire to any combustible material, Kelly said. About 70 percent of the people of Herat have taken refuge in surrounding villages like Shaker Qala to escape U.S. attacks on Taliban targets.

28 troops implicated manslaughter in afghanistan 8 afghans killed 12 10 03 [jpg] Afganistan airstrike kills 76 { April 2006 } Afghan hospital strike kills 15 { October 31 2001 } Afghan soliders killed accidently { May 21 2003 } Aghanistan bomb kills 11 civilians { April 10 2003 } Airstrike coverup { July 29 2002 } Airstrike in afghanistan killed civilians and infant { August 11 2005 } Airstrike kills 17 afghan civilians { July 5 2005 } Bloody blunder { January 7 2002 } Bombed wedding { May 18 2002 } Bombed wedding2 { July 2 2002 } Bombed wedding3 { July 2 2002 } Bombing that went wrong { July 2 2002 } Carpetbomb { November 19 2001 } Cluster111 [jpg] Disappeared { August 8 2002 } Evidence massacre { August 19 2002 } Flawed air strikes { July 21 2002 } Food drops similar to cluster bombs Fooddrop roof Hiding dead { August 8 2002 } Inquiry airstrikes { July 9 2002 } Nine afghan kids dead after air strike No investigation { August 21 2002 } Pentagon defends { July 16 2002 } Proves civilians hit { October 14 2001 } Reasons why bombs hit civilians Scores killed afghan wedding Troops mistakenly kill 4 afghans { May 21 2003 } Un accused coverup { July 29 2002 } Unexploded bombs litter village US airstrike kills seven afghan children { June 18 2007 } Us bombing kills 11 afghan civilians Us bombs killed 1500 Warplane kills 11 aghan civilians { July 1 2002 } Wedding party { July 1 2002 } Woman children { May 25 2002 } Files Listed: 38

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