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
Related:
- UK: Over 50 pieces of explosives found at Medmerry Beach in Sussex
April 11, 2024
Over 50 pieces of explosive ordnance were found at a beach. The items on Medmerry Beach were reported to the Selsey Coastguard Rescue Team at around 5.20pm on Wesdnesday. A cordon was put in place and the explosive ordnance disposal (E.O.D) team attended the scene to take some of the items away. Both teams then returned ...
- Children and War: The Impact of Weapon Contamination in Iraq
April 8, 2024
As one of the most heavily contaminated countries in the world, Iraq grapples with the enduring legacy of past conflicts, including landmines and cluster munitions. Basra, in particular, stands as a stark reminder of this reality, with a pollution rate of 1,200 square kilometers (statistics by Directorate Mine of Action by 2024), making it one ...
- Pakistan: One police officer killed, 6 others wounded in grenade attack at a mosque near Quetta
April 8, 2024
A police officer died and six other officers were wounded in a grenade attack Monday at a mosque in southwestern Pakistan, authorities said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack near Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. Local police chief Nasir Shah said officers were still investigating. In a statement, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi denounced ...
- Sri Lanka: A stretch remains to be cleared of landmines in North
April 8, 2024
Chief Government Whip and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga on Saturday said that there was a stretch of 23 km to be cleared of landmines in the North. Addressing a ceremony held at Kilinochchi to mark the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, the Minister said that as of now an area of ...
- UNMAS: It is time to stop the use by terrorists and other non-State armed groups of improvised explosive devices
April 4, 2024
Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), Ilene Cohn, said, “it is time to stop the use by terrorists and other non-State armed groups of improvised explosive devices.” The Director of UNMAS today (04 Apr) spoke to reporters marking the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. Disabled survivors of explosive ...
- Vietnam: Mine clearance of unexploded ordnance continues
April 4, 2024
Efforts to settle the consequences of bombs and mines in 2024 will continue focusing on clearing bombs, mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left over from the war and supporting victims, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA). Along with collecting data to develop a report summarising the implementation of the national action ...
- UN reaffirms their support to Somalia in protecting lives from explosive ordnance
April 4, 2024
On the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, the United Nations reaffirms their support to Somalia in protecting the lives of civilians from the explosive hazards and building peace through the development of national explosive threat mitigation capacity. “Mine action efforts are an essential component of Somalia’s journey to peace and stability ...
- UNDP: Landmines kill in seconds, their fallout lasts generations
April 3, 2024
On average, one person is killed or injured by landmines and other explosive ordnance every hour. Their destructive influence lasts long after armed conflict ends, inflicting horrific injuries and death, while trapping communities in poverty and fear. Millions of people are being put in harm’s way as conflict proliferates – from Afghanistan to Myanmar, to Sudan, ...
- UK: Controlled explosion carried out as device found at garage off A19 sparks closure
April 3, 2024
A controlled explosion has been carried out after an suspected explosive device was found at a garage off the A19 north of Billingham, police have confirmed. The main route was closed for several hours and motorists were caught up in lengthy huge queues and delays. Police said shortly after 4pm on Wednesday (April 3) that a ...
- Millions of dollars needed to make Gaza safe from unexploded bombs
April 3, 2024
The scale of the bombs dropped on Gaza since 7 October means that it will take millions of dollars, and many years, to decontaminate the Strip from unexploded munitions, the head of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Palestine tells UN News, ahead of Mine Action Day. Charles Birch, known as Mungo, was working with ...
- UK: Hand grenade safely detonated after discovery in Bedford river
April 2, 2024
An old unexploded hand grenade discovered in the river in Bedford has now been safely detonated by experts. The device was reported to police at around 1.30pm on Sunday and a cordon was put in place around Riverside Square. Read more… Source: BedfordTpday
- Afghanistan: Landmine explosion kills 9 children in Ghazni
April 1, 2024
At least nine children were killed in southeastern Afghanistan Sunday when a landmine, laid during decades of war in the country, exploded, a local official said Monday. The mine went off as a group of young boys and girls were playing with it in the Geru district of Ghazni province Sunday, said the provincial head of ...
- Building bombings and 14-year-old hitmen, organised crime overwhelms Sweden
March 31, 2024
In less than 15 years, Sweden has gone from being one of the world’s safest countries to having the highest rate of gun homicides in the entire EU (double that of Croatia, the second highest) and a number of explosions — by bombs or by hand grenades — that is comparable to some countries at ...
- Ukrainian bomb disposal team defuse Russian aerial bomb in Kharkiv Oblast
March 29, 2024
A State Emergency Service bomb disposal team has seized and destroyed an OFAB-250 aerial bomb in Kharkiv Oblast. “Yesterday, after the latest attack by the Russian army on the border village of Ruska Lozova, an enemy OFAB-250 high-explosive fragmentation aerial bomb was found in the garden near one of the houses.” Read more… Source: Ukrainska Pravda
- International Day for Mine Awareness & Assistance in Mine Action
March 27, 2024
Mines, explosive remnants of war, and improvised explosive devices continue to cause death and injury, especially in situations of armed conflict. On average, one person is killed or injured by such an explosive device every hour. Many children are among the victims. The use of improvised explosive devices has expanded, terrorizing civilians and threatening humanitarian actors ...
- Unexploded Bombs From World Wars Are Coming Back To Bite Us
March 27, 2024
Earth is riddled with millions of tonnes of explosive bomb material, particularly from the two world wars that struck the 20th century. While most have remained buried and forgotten over the past decades, new research is showing that many are loaded with a chemical that’s making them increasingly prone to blowing up as time goes by. The ...
- OCHA: Syria ordnance contamination
March 27, 2024
After 13 years of conflict, explosive ordnance contamination remains a challenge in Syria. Approximately a third of communities across Syria reportedly face grave risk of injury and trauma by some form of explosive contamination. Demining efforts are underway with the support of UN and partners. OCHA Read more… Source: OCHA
- Ukraine: 40% of agricultural land in de-occupied Kherson region has been cleared of mines
March 27, 2024
Despite the terrorist attacks of Russia, the state is taking all measures to ensure the speedy humanitarian demining of agricultural land and food security of the country, the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy informs. Thus, according to the Kherson Regional Military Administration, 40% of agricultural land on the liberated right bank of the Kherson region ...
- Cambodia: CMAA declares Kratie as 15th province to be mine-free
March 26, 2024
Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) has declared Kratie province clear of landmines becoming the 15th mine-free province in the country. During the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and early 70s, intense fighting took place in Kratie province between opposing forces and it also suffered heavy US aerial bombing. According to the report ...
- At least 3,000 unexploded bombs in Gaza in first 3 months of war
March 26, 2024
At least 3,000 of the 45,000 Israeli bombs dropped on the Gaza Strip between 7 October and mid-January have failed to explode, according to estimates by Handicap International, an NGO specialising in mine action. “Of these 45,000 bombs, 3,000 have not exploded, and it is in fact these that will cause additional danger, particularly for civilians, ...
- Israel: Shin Bet seizes Iranian weapons intended for West Bank terrorists
March 25, 2024
The Shin Bet and the IDF on Monday announced that they had busted a vast Iranian network for smuggling more serious weapons into the West Bank to help dramatically increase the danger Palestinian terrorists can present to Israel. Among the weapons seized were two BTB15 significant explosives with shrapnel, five YM-2 anti-tank weapons, four M203 grenade ...
- Iraq: Shepherds injured in war remnant explosion near Kirkuk
March 23, 2024
Two shepherds were injured in an explosion of a war remnant while herding south of Kirkuk, according to a medical source. The source told Shafaq News Agency on condition of anonymity, that “a war remnant exploded this evening on the outskirts of Qasbah al-Bashir, within Taza Khurmatu district (30 kilometers south of Kirkuk), resulting in the ...