Afghan finds 500-kg Soviet-era bomb in garden, police say

An unexploded Soviet-era bomb weighing 500 kilograms, around 1,100 pounds, was discovered in a private garden in eastern Afghanistan, police said Thursday.

More than 45,000 Afghans have been killed or injured by explosive remnants of war and mines since Soviet troops withdrew in 1989.

How was the Soviet-era bomb discovered in Afghanistan?

A resident found a suspicious object in the garden area inside the yard of his house on Wednesday, said Khalid Sarhadi, police spokesperson in Ghazni province.

Security forces and a demining team from the Danish Refugee Council were sent to the home in Sir village to investigate.

What happened to the bomb after it was found?

"A 500-kilogram bomb from the Soviet era was discovered, transferred to a mountainous area, and detonated safely," Sarhadi said.

Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan after a nearly decade-long occupation, though successive wars followed. Unexploded ordnance from that era continues to be found across the country.

Why does unexploded ordnance remain a threat in Afghanistan?

Despite the ongoing risk from unexploded ordnance nationwide, the number of demining teams deployed to address the problem has been slashed by 64 percent over the past two years.

Nick Pond, head of the Mine Action Section of the UN mission in Afghanistan, told AFP of the cuts in June. The reduction leaves fewer resources to clear war remnants as they continue to surface in residential areas.