Hours before the break of dawn on a humid Tuesday, this writer along with several other individuals sat at a 20-minute debriefing inside a temporary shelter setup a few meters away from the Mankulam junction in the North of Sri Lanka.
With mobile phones aside and personal protective clothing intact, we were getting ready to follow our guide a few kilometers into the jungle. We would have loved to believe that it was just another regular jungle trek. But, it was not. Instead, this writer along with a team of experienced ex-soldiers were on their way to get a first-hand experience of de-mining operations taking place inside a thick jungle patch in Mankulam, now declared as a Confirmed Hazardous Area (CHA) – at the exact location where the Jayasikuru operation took place.
Read more…
Source: DailyMirror News
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- Sri Lanka says attacks carried out by suicide bombers, international network involved
April 22, 2019
Seven suicide bombers took part in the attacks on churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka that killed 290 people and wounded more than 500, an investigator said on Monday, while a government spokesman said an international network was involved. Two of the suicide bombers blew themselves up at the luxury Shangri-La Hotel on Colombo’s seafront, ...
- Sri Lanka attacks: More than 200 killed as churches and hotels targeted
April 21, 2019
At least 207 people have been killed and 450 hurt in explosions at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, police say. Eight blasts were reported, including at three churches in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo’s Kochchikade district during Easter services. The Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand luxury hotels, all in the capital, were also targeted. A curfew has been ...
- Norway to provide NOK 60 m for mine action in Sri Lanka
March 6, 2019
The Government is providing NOK 60 million (around Rs. 1.2 billion) over a period of three years for mine action in Sri Lanka. “Sri Lanka has been heavily contaminated by landmines, but the country is now approaching its goal of becoming mine-free. This year, Norway holds the presidency of the Mine Ban Treaty, and intends to ...
- Sri Lanka’s demining program commended at Geneva’s International Director’s Meeting
February 26, 2019
The 30-year-long civil conflict in Sri Lanka left many areas of the Northern and Eastern part of the country contaminated by anti-personnel mines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW). The International Meeting on Mine Action for National Directors and UN Advisors was held from 5 to 8 February in Geneva at the UN office. This ...
- Sri Lanka: Rs. 100 m from Japan to support humanitarian demining in Northern Province
January 26, 2019
The Government of Japan has extended a total sum of $ 624,382 (approximately Rs. 100 million) for humanitarian demining in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The grant contract was signed on 24 January at the Ambassador’s Residence in Colombo, between Ambassador of Japan in Sri Lanka Akira Sugiyama and Delvon Assistance for Social Harmony (DASH) ...
- Two peacekeepers killed in an attack against UN convoy in Mali
January 25, 2019
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, strongly condemned the attack which led to the deaths of two ‘blue helmets’ from Sri Lanka and injured six others. Mr Guterres conveyed his “deep condolences to the Government of Sri Lanka, and the families of the victims”, and wished a speedy recovery to those injured. A peacekeeper from Burkina Faso was ...
- Sri Lanka to be declared as a mine-free country by 2020
December 7, 2018
Sri Lanka acceded to the Mine Ban Convention, very well known as the Ottawa Convention, in 2017 which came into force from 1 June. The objective of the Mine Ban Convention is to end the suffering and casualties caused by the Anti-Personal Mines (APM) and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) by banning the production, use, ...
- U.S. Department of State Provides 600 Million Rupees for Mine Clearance
October 23, 2018
A delegation from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement visited Sri Lanka from October 8 to 12, 2018 to observe U.S.-funded demining activities and meet with some of the beneficiaries of these projects. The projects are part of the nearly 600 million Sri Lankan rupees ($3.5 million) in assistance that the ...
- US Navy trains Sri Lanka Navy divers in underwater unexploded ordnance recovery
September 24, 2017
Members of the United States Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Five (EODMU 5) recently conducted a training program for the divers of the Sri Lanka Navy in Underwater Unexploded Explosive Ordinance (UXO) Recovery. Sri Lanka Navy divers successfully completed the training program held at the Trincomalee harbor from 04th to 22nd September. The program was ...
- Sri Lanka: Batticaloa declared mine-free, but 26 mn square metres still to be cleared in 9 districts
June 25, 2017
The Batticaloa District has been declared mine free but the government still needs to clear more than 26 million square metres in nine other districts. The official certificate of clearance confirming that the district has been rid of mines was handed over to the Batticaloa District Secretary P.S.M. Charles this week by the Country Director ...