[Daryn Kagan, Cnn Anchor:] One thing you may not know about Norwegians, they are experts at the dangerous job of removing land mines. They have their work cut out for them in Afghanistan. Our Ben Wedeman has the story.
[Ben Wedeman, Cnn Correspondent:] Inch by tedious inch, a Norwegian mine clearer probes the dust for deadly explosives. One U.S. Marine has already been wounded by a mine. No one at Kandahar Airport is willing even to guess how many mines lie just below the surface here. The Norwegians have been in other hot spots, but they say nothing is like this little corner of Afghanistan.
[Maj. Tregve Anger, Norwegian Army:] Down here, we have mines from many battles, so we have mines from the Russian
[Wedeman:] The Norwegian unit found more mines like this in a day at Kandahar Airport, than they found in six months in Kosovo. Their job is a little safer thanks to these special Israeli-made boots. They may look unwieldy, but the Norwegians swear by them.
[Lt. Henning Olsen, Norwegian Army:] I trust them. I have been walking. I tried them in Kosovo, and stepped on anti-personnel mines over there and stepped on some anti-personnel mines a couple days ago. So I'm not afraid walking with the shoes.
[Wedeman:] The boots distribute the wearer's weight, so much so, they showed us, you can walk on an egg without breaking it. But not all mine clearing is like treading on eggshells. These machines flail the ground to a depth of 25 centimeters, almost 10 inches; the chains will set off any mines. But even with such intense work, say the Norwegians, it will take more than a year to clear the airport of mines. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Kandahar, Afghanistan.