Funding cuts, insurgency hamper Afghan goal to clear mines by 2023

By Josh Smith and Mirwais Harooni SALANG PASS, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's campaign to clear millions of landmines left by the Soviet invasion and ensuing civil war is in danger of stalling, as international aid slumps and militant violence makes more of the country inaccessible. "The longer these minefields last, the higher the human cost," said Mohammad Shafiq Yosufi, chief of the Afghan government's Directorate of Mine Action Coordination. "They kill and maim people, prevent economi