Political scientist Elizabeth Wishnick says the "war on terror" is obscuring a greater security problem in Central Asia -- that of landmines.

A spate of unexplained violence in Tashkent and Bukhara in March-April 2004 made headlines, while land mines along Uzbekistan’s borders with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and within that state regularly cost lives and damage property without attracting significant international attention," she says.

"International assistance continues to target anti-terrorism efforts, leaving demining programs underfunded.