KABUL, 15 March 2003 — Two US soldiers were evacuated from central Afghanistan after being bitten by spiders and dogs, the US military said yesterday. A statement issued from Bagram air base north of Kabul, the nerve center of US military operations in Afghanistan, said one soldier had been taken from central Bamiyan to Bagram on Thursday after being bitten by a spider.
Just hours later, a second US soldier was airlifted to Bagram after being bitten on the left leg and arm by a dog in Bamiyan’s Madr valley. Both men were discharged after treatment. US troops have been stationed in Bamiyan, home of giant Buddha statues destroyed by the former Taleban regime, as part of Operation Roll Tide, a joint Afghan-US army mission to remove Taleban-friendly elements in the area. Earlier this week, as part of the operation, the US Army carried out an animal welfare program in the Madr valley. It was not clear whether Thursday’s bites were linked to the animal aid mission.
Afghanistan, the world’s most mined country, is aiming to remove land mines and unexploded ordnance from all densely populated centers in four years in line with reconstruction plans, the United Nations said yesterday. About 150 people are maimed or killed each month by some of an estimated 10 million mines strewn across the country, making reconstruction work slow and risky.
Under a new plan ordered by the transitional administration, each of Afghanistan’s 32 provinces has been classified into high- and low-priority areas.
