It’s Time to Learn How to Blow Things Up Again


Western governments’ rapidly growing defense spending sounds like a straightforward equation: More spending equals more weapons.

But skilled weapons workers are in short supply, especially explosives experts, and without a sufficiently big bang behind them, even the most sophisticated weaponry is pointless. But blowing things up is not learned in a quick crash course. We need more explosives professors.

Read more…
Source: Foreign policy


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Louisiana: World War II era hand grenade found in Shreveport, safely removed

    February 5, 2025

    A concerned citizen called emergency responders after discovering a hand grenade while cleaning a storage building on February 4, 2025, according to the Shreveport Fire Department (SFD). Technicians from the SFD Bomb Squad analyzed the device and determined it was a World War II era hand grenade. They contacted Barksdale Air Force Base (BAFB) for assistance ...

  • The Government of Italy Provides Additional Contribution to UNMAS in Support of Mine Action in Iraq

    February 5, 2025

    The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq welcomes an additional funding from the Government of Italy, which will contribute to support the Government of Iraq (GoI) to protect civilians from the threat of explosive ordnance (EO) and will enable humanitarian, socio-economic, and reconstruction efforts. The Government of Italy has actively participated in the UNMAS ...

  • Afghanistan needs $21.9 million for mine clearance

    February 3, 2025

    The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said that $21.9 million is needed this year to fund mine clearance and provide explosive hazard risk education in Afghanistan. In a statement on Sunday, OCHA warned that 3.3 million Afghans live within one kilometer of mine-contaminated areas, putting them at daily risk. On ...

  • Iraq: IED blast kills a child in Kirkuk

    February 2, 2025

    On Monday, a child was killed and another injured after an explosive remnant of war detonated in Riyadh subdistrict, southwest of Kirkuk, a medical source reported. The source told Shafaq News, “The two children were playing near Al-Shaheed village, about 45 km southwest of Kirkuk when the device exploded.” The source added, “Security forces cordoned off ...

  • Syria: Explosive remnants of civil war pose a daunting challenge

    February 2, 2025

    Almost 14 years of civil war contaminated swathes of the Syrian Arab Republic with roughly 324,600 unexploded rockets and bombs and thousands of landmines, according to a 2023 estimate by the US-based Carter Center. In the last four years alone, the Syrian Arab Republic has recorded more casualties resulting from unexploded ordnance than any other country, ...

  • Malaysia: Angler finds 61mm mortar bomb at Tumpat beach

    February 2, 2025

    An angler discovered a 61mm rusty mortar bomb while fishing at Sri Tujuh beach here yesterday. District police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Khairi Shafie said police were informed about the discovery at around 2.28pm. “A 26-year-old man reported to the police that while fishing in the area, he spotted the bomb which was attached to an ...

  • UK: WW2 grenade safely disposed of by bomb squad

    January 31, 2025

    A hand grenade found in a residential area of Cornwall has been safely removed by a bomb disposal unit, police have said. Devon and Cornwall Police said it was notified that a grenade had been found in the Bosorne Road area of St Just at about 13:20 GMT on Friday. The Royal Navy EOD Team confirmed ...

  • Afghanistan: Two children killed in unexploded ordnance explosion in Kandahar

    January 28, 2025

    Local officials in Kandahar province have reported that two children were killed in an explosion caused by an unexploded shell in the Spin Boldak district of the province. Asadullah Jamshid, the spokesperson for the Taliban’s provincial police command, stated in a press release that the incident occurred on Monday morning, January 27, in the Hoot Ghara ...

  • Germany: Unexploded WWII bomb found around Carola Bridge in Dresden

    January 28, 2025

    Workers dismantling a collapsed bridge over the Elbe River in the eastern German city of Dresden have once again found what appears to be an unexploded World War II-era bomb. This is according to the authorities report on Tuesday. The area around the Carola Bridge has been cordoned off as bomb disposal specialists investigate the discovery, ...

  • Bangladesh: Three injured in landmine explosions near Naikhongchhari border

    January 24, 2025

    Three individuals were injured in separate landmine explosions at the Naikhongchhari border in Bandarban on Friday morning. This incident, which took place approximately 400 metres inside Myanmar from the zero line, injured Md Rasel, 25, son of former union parishad member Mujibur Rahman from the Ashar Toli area. Additionally, a third explosion happened in the Jamgachhori ...

  • Japan: WWII explosive removed from city building site on Okinawa

    January 21, 2025

    Japanese troops removed and defused an American shell believed to be from World War II from a construction site in Okinawa’s capital city over the weekend. Five members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit on Sunday moved the 5-inch shell by crane into an explosion-proof container and defused it, a spokesman ...

  • Finding Unexploded WWII Bombs In Germany Is Run-Of-The-Mill

    January 19, 2025

    Last month, an 1,100-pound unexploded bomb from WWII, believed to be of American origin, was uncovered near Cologne, Germany, where a construction crew had been digging. Some 3,000 people were evacuated from the area while the bomb was carefully extricated. Earlier last year, similar bombs near Cologne were discovered and defused. The bombs discovered near Cologne ...

  • Libyan authorities destroy 2 tons of explosive war remnants

    January 17, 2025

    The Libyan Ministry of Interior on Thursday announced destroying two tons of explosive remnants of war in the city of Misurata, some 200 km east of the capital Tripoli. ” The Security Inspection and Explosives Dismantling Section of the Central Criminal Investigation Department (of the Interior Ministry) destroyed and disposed of two tons of explosive remnants,” ...

  • Iraq: Duhok clears over 540,000 square meters of explosives in 2024

    January 16, 2025

    On Thursday, the General Directorate for Mine Affairs in Duhok announced its 2024 statistics regarding efforts to remove explosive materials across the governorate. The Head of the Directorate, Shilan Naheli, told Shafaq News that mine clearance teams successfully cleared seven agricultural plots, covering a total area of 540,301 square meters in 2024. She explained that these ...

  • Israel: 10 IDF soldiers injured from explosion during weapons display

    January 16, 2025

    Three IDF soldiers were moderately injured, and seven others sustained light injuries on Wednesday night when a weapon exploded during a training exercise at the Engineering Corps Training Base in the Negev, the IDF announced on Thursday. The injured soldiers were evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment. Their families have been notified, and the incident ...

  • Yemen: Annual Mine Action Update 2024

    January 15, 2025

    During 2024, the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) has recorded 61 landmine and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) related incidents in Hudaydah Governorate. A total of 41 civilians were killed and another 52 were injured. 40 per cent of the victims were women and children. Ad Durayhimi, Al Hali and At Tuhayta ...

  • Polish defence minister dismisses logistics chief after mines go missing

    January 13, 2025

    On Thursday, General Artur Kepczynski was dismissed from his position as head of the Armed Forces Support Inspectorate, as reported by the Ministry of Defence. The reasons for this decision, made by Kosiniak-Kamysz, were not disclosed; however, media reports suggest that the dismissal is related to the disappearance of anti-tank mines. The Wirtualna Polska (WP) website ...

  • Israel: IDF announces deaths of four soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip

    January 11, 2025

    Four soldiers were killed in battle in northern Gaza, the IDF announced Saturday night. The soldiers were Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Alexander Fedorenko, St.-Sgt. Danila Diakov, Sgt. Yahav Maayan, and Sgt. Eliav Astuker. The four soldiers were killed after terrorists ambushed an IDF convoy traveling through Beit Hanoun and detonated an explosive device, according to Army Radio. Read more… Source: ...

  • California: Live mortar round found at Grass Valley transfer station

    January 10, 2025

    The McCourtney Transfer Station in Grass Valley was evacuated and closed on Friday after what turned out to be live explosives was found, according to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. At 10:30 a.m., deputies were called to the transfer station at 14741 Wolf Mountain Rd. to investigate a suspicious device found in the metal scrap area ...

  • Israel, US, UK launch coordinated airstrikes on Houthi stronghold in Yemen

    January 10, 2025

    The Israel Air Force, together with the United States and Britain, conducted the largest coordinated airstrikes of the war against the Houthis in Yemen on Friday, targeting a power station and two ports used by the Iran-backed group. For Israel, this was the fifth counterattack on Yemen’s Houthis since July, with the group having spent around ...

  • Syria: Legacy of war still causing mass death and injury, says landmine clearance charity

    January 9, 2025

    At least 80 civilians, including 12 children, have been killed by landmines and other explosive debris of war in the month since the Syrian strongman Bashar Al-Assad was toppled on December 8 last year. According to Mouiad Alnofaly, HALO’s Operations Manager in Syria, said: “HALO knows how to stop these bombs and landmines from exploding, making ...

  • Cambodia sees spike in landmine, ERW casualties in 2024

    January 9, 2025

    Cambodia recorded 49 landmines and explosive remnant of war (ERW) casualties in 2024, up 53 percent from 32 in the year before, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. “Twelve people were killed, 29 injured, and eight amputated due to landmine and ERW explosions last year,” Lang Kosal, a spokesperson for the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance ...