Tajik Border Committee head Nuralisho Nazarov told Interfax on 18 May that Tajikistan has developed a program for the removal of land mines left over from the country\'s 1992-97 civil war and those laid by the Uzbek military on the border between the two countries to stop incursions by Muslim militants. He added, however, that the country does not have the $13 million needed to implement the program. Nazarov noted that 70 Tajik citizens have stepped on land mines in the last three years and that 50 of them were killed. Uzbek land mines accounted for 23 deaths and 21 serious injuries. The Tajik Defense Ministry press office has said that between 1994 and January 2003, more than 10,000 land mines were destroyed, but the ministry believes there are still about 15,000 live mines in the country. The report also said that 2,500 square kilometers of the country were believed to be mined, of which only 180 square kilometers have been cleared to date. Six hundred kilometers of roadways were mined, of which 50 kilometers have been cleared. The OSCE intends to provide Tajikistan with 200,000 euros ($232,000) for marking minefields, and the United States, Japan, and Norway have indicated their willingness to help remove land mines in Tajikistan. (Interfax)