Indiscriminate and unlawful use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has remained the biggest conflict-related threat to civilians in Afghanistan, responsible for 35 per cent of deaths and injuries during the first half of 2013, according to UNAMA’s latest Protection of Civilians report. In order to help alleviate this problem, the country's Ministry of Interior, supported by international organizations, opened a special school to train police officers on defusing IEDs, in the capital, Kabul, today. Some 300 police personnel were trained in mine defusing skills in the past seven years - now, with the new school in place, the General Juma Khan Police Academy, around 1,500 police personnel will receive mine defusing training this year alone, Ministry officials said.
