Deadly threat of unexploded bombs in the Pacific persists 80 years on


This year is the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, but in some countries, the trail of death and destruction continues.

Bombs, nearly a century old, are still exploding, killing and maiming people and contaminating land. Four years ago, a group of young people gathered for a barbecue in a residential backyard. They were cooking food over an open fire in the ground. Suddenly, the earth exploded with no warning. Maeverlyn Pitanoe, a youth mentor, and two young men were standing near to where the ageing bomb had been buried in the garden.

Read more…
Source: Independent Australia News


Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Philippines: Bomb maker arrested in North Cotabato

    January 17, 2023

    Government troops on Tuesday arrested an alleged terrorist in President Roxas, North Cotabato, the military said. Troops from the 602nd Infantry Brigade under Col. Donald Gumiran and members of the President Roxas Municipal Police Station conducted an operation in Barangay Salat at dawn. Jordan Akmad, also known as Jordan Kamad, was arrested in the operation, the military ...

  • Philippines: 5 bandits surrender in Basilan

    January 16, 2023

    Five alleged Abu Sayyaf bandits surrendered to authorities in Basilan on Saturday. The surrenderees – Omar Hajubain, Amil Palluh, Farhat Palluh, Merham Palluh and Basri Tukul – turned over three rifles and improvised explosive devices during a ceremony in Ungkaya Pukan town. The surrender was facilitated by the Army’s 64th Infantry Battalion as well as by officials ...

  • Australia contributes significantly to Cambodia’s demining

    January 6, 2023

    Australia is one of the longest-standing supporters of mine clearance action in Cambodia, contributing essentially to Cambodian government’s goal to reach mine-free status by 2025. The appreciation was voiced by Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and First Vice President of the Cambodian Min Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) in a farewell meeting here early this week ...

  • New Zealand: Seven pipe bombs, two suspects and zero leads in Hamilton attack

    January 2, 2023

    The pair behind a pipe-bomb attack on a money machine that left shrapnel holes in a suburban New Zealand mall and unexploded devices laying about appear to have got away with it. In the last decade 26 New Zealanders have been convicted for offences involving pipe bombs or IEDs, improvised explosive devices. However, not amongst them are ...

  • Malaysia: Explosive device that killed man in Pandan was a ‘homemade bomb’

    December 30, 2022

    Police believe the explosive device that killed a a 28-year-old cook outside a restaurant in Pandan Indah was a homemade bomb. Police arrived at the conclusion after having discovered certain items and materials at the scene which had originated from the bomb that exploded. Among the materials found were batteries, power banks, and fragments of paper cutters. Read ...

  • Philippines: Sulu roadside bombing foiled

    December 25, 2022

    Government security forces foiled a bombing attempt by suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits along the highway in Maimbung, Sulu on Wednesday. Soldiers belonging to the 41st Infantry Battalion were conducting clearing operations when they discovered four improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Barangay Tubig Samin, Col. Richard Verceles, operations chief of Area Police Command-Western Mindanao, said. An improvised pipe ...

  • Indonesia suicide bombing kills police officer; attacker leaves note criticising new criminal code

    December 7, 2022

    A suspected militant, angered by Indonesia’s new criminal code, killed a police officer and wounded at least 10 in a suicide bomb attack at a police station in the city of Bandung on Wednesday (Dec 7), authorities said. The suicide bomber was believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State-inspired group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) and ...

  • Australia: Police offer $1m reward for information on 1982 Israeli consulate and Hakoah Club bombings in Sydney

    December 4, 2022

    A $1m reward has been announced to help solve a 40-year mystery – the bombing of Sydney’s Israeli consulate and the Hakoah Club, which shook the Jewish community. The increased reward was announced on Monday, the first day of a coronial inquiry into Australia’s first terrorism cold case. A bomb exploded in front of the consulate about ...

  • Military pledged to remove unexploded bombs from this island – native Hawaiians are still waiting

    November 29, 2022

    For the better part of two years, Liliu Ross had lived in a one-room tin-roofed shack in the rural outer reaches of Hawaii’s Big Island. It had no running water and no electricity. But it provided shelter for Ross as she raised sheep and grew crops on land that her Native Hawaiian ancestors once called ...

  • Cambodia: 11 nations attend NPMEC demining training course

    November 24, 2022

    The National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces, Mines and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance (NPMEC) has launched the ASEAN and Regional Mine Clearance and Minefield Technical Training for UN peacekeeping missions which saw the participation of 11 countries. General Sem Sovanny, director-general of the National Peacekeeping Centre, said yesterday that the training was the fifth session for ...

  • Two Nauru police officers graduate under RSIPF-EOD on IMAS level one in Honiara

    November 11, 2022

    The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Unit has graduated two Nauru Police officers on International Mine Action Standard (IMAS) level one. The graduation happened today (11 November 2022) after four weeks of intensive training at Hells Point. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) Advisors, Australian Federal Police (AFP) Advisor, a staff from ...

  • Japan: GSDF removes unexploded bomb left over from WWII in Osaka

    November 7, 2022

    Ground Self-Defense Force members removed an unexploded U.S. bomb likely dropped during World War II from the site of a future university campus here on Nov. 6. Officials called for the evacuations of around 3,750 residents in about 2,200 households living in the “high-risk zone” within a radius of 300 meters of the site. Around 100 ...

  • Philippines: 1 dead, 11 hurt in Tacurong City bus bombing

    November 6, 2022

    A passenger was killed while 11 others were badly hurt in a bomb explosion inside a bus in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province at noon on Sunday. Police Lt. Col. Joan Maganto, chief of the Tacurong City Police, said Sunday the unit of the Yellow Bus Company was on its way to the city terminal ...

  • Philippines: 2 Calabarzon police bomb-sniffing dogs honored in retirement ceremony

    November 5, 2022

    The Police Regional Office 4-A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon area) honored two explosive detection dogs in a retirement ceremony in this camp on Friday, Nov. 4. PRO 4-A director Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. thanked “Sky” and “Gambit” for their invaluable service in the police anti-crime campaign in Calabarzon. Sky and Gambit were declared ...

  • Philippines: NGCP investigates tower bombing that caused power interruptions in Mindanao

    October 25, 2022

    The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said it is investigating the bombing of an electricity tower on Monday that caused power interruptions in parts of Mindanao. Authorities confirmed that unnamed individuals used improvised explosive devices to cause the bombing. The Baloi-Aurora 138kV Transmission Line was tripped at 4:50 p.m. on Monday following the bombing of the ...