- IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine – update 221
April 9, 2024
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed about a further drone attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) today, in the latest indication of a major worsening of the nuclear safety and security situation at the site, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. The IAEA team of ...
- 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 ...
- Singapore: Security officer to be charged for failure to dispose of fake bomb during exercise
April 8, 2024
A 46-year-old security officer’s failure to dispose of a fake improvised explosive device (IED) used in a simulation exercise led to police officers being activated to investigate a bomb threat. Investigations by the police then led to the discovery of various other offences that the security officer allegedly committed. The security officer will be charged on ...
- India: Huge cache of explosives recovered in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district
April 8, 2024
Security forces recovered a huge cache of explosives, hidden by Naxalites, from two places in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on Sunday, an official said. The recovery was made between Tondamarka and Dabbamarka villages under Kistaram police station limits by a joint team of the CRPF and its elite CoBRA battalion and Bastar Battalion, he said. Read more… Source: The ...
- 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 ...
- Idaho Man Arrested for Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS
April 8, 2024
Alexander Scott Mercurio, 18, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was arrested Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Coeur d’Alene for attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS. According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Mercurio pledged his allegiance to ISIS and intended to commit attacks on its behalf. He planned to attack individuals ...
- Lithuania: Molotov cocktails thrown at Russian embassy in Vilnius
April 8, 2024
The Russian embassy in Vilnius was targeted with Molotov cocktails on two consecutive nights, prompting an extensive investigation by Lithuanian authorities, according to reports on Monday. The first attack occurred late on Saturday, followed by another identical incident on Sunday night. Although no injuries were reported, the embassy’s building sustained damage, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR ...
- ASEAN member states in Cambodia visit mine clearing activities in Oddar Meanchey province
April 7, 2024
Ly Thuch, First Vice President of Cambodia Mine Action Authority (CMAA), led a delegation from the Embassy of ASEAN Member States in Cambodia to inspect the demining activities of Halo Trust in Anlong Veng commune, Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province and also the representatives from the Embassy of Japan in Cambodia and Prince Holding ...
- Lebanon: Chinese, French peacekeepers exchange mine clearance, EOD experience
April 7, 2024
The 22nd Chinese Peacekeeping Multi-Role Engineering Company to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had exchanges on mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) with the French peacekeeping battalion on the morning of April 4, the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. Relevant members of the United Nations Mine Action ...
- Pakistan: Six law enforcers killed in attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan
April 7, 2024
Six security personnel, including a DSP, were martyred and 12 militants killed in separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan on Friday night and Saturday. In one incident, eight militants were killed in a gun battle with security forces during an intelligence-based operation conducted in the Kot Sultan area of Kulachi tehsil, Dera Ismail Khan district, ...
- Ukraine: IAEA experts confirmed physical impact of drone attacks at ZNPP
April 7, 2024
IAEA experts confirmed physical impact of drone attacks at ZNPP today, incl. at 1 of its 6 reactors. One casualty reported. Damage at unit 6 has not compromised nuclear safety, but this is a serious incident with potential to undermine integrity of the reactor’s containment system. Read more… Source: International Atomic Energy Agency/X
- Azerbaijan: Excavator hits landmine in Aghdam
April 7, 2024
An incident involving a landmine occurred in the Novruzlu village area of the Aghdam district, Azernews reports. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) Press Service have jointly released information about this. An excavator hit a landmine in an uncleared area. The excavator was damaged, but there were ...
- Syria: 7 children killed in explosive device blast in Daraa countryside
April 6, 2024
Seven children were martyred and two civilians were injured, including a woman, when an explosive device planted by terrorists exploded in the southern neighborhood of Al-Sanamayn city in the northern countryside of Daraa. A source in the Daraa Police Command stated that seven children, four of them brothers, were martyred in the explosion. Read more… Source: SANA news
- New Jersey, Delaware, Idaho Guard Conduct Interagency Training
April 5, 2024
TRENTON, N.J. – The New Jersey, Delaware and Idaho National Guard participated in interagency chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives training with the FBI and state and local law enforcement March 25-28. In the training scenario, the FBI has just received intelligence that a domestic terrorist group has planted bombs — including one with cesium-137, ...
- UNDP equips 1,010 State Service of Emergency of Ukraine deminers with support from EU, governments of Denmark, Japan and Sweden
April 5, 2024
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, with generous funding from the European Union, the governments of Denmark, Japan and Sweden, has provided a substantial batch of demining and protective equipment to 202 demining units of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU), which is 80 percent of all the SESU capacities. The batch includes ...
- India: Kerala CPI(M) worker dies as crude bomb explodes in Kannur
April 5, 2024
A CPI(M) worker was killed and another seriously injured when a crude bomb, which they were allegedly making, went off in Kerala’s Kannur district early on Friday. The police have identified the deceased as Sherin, 26, and the injured as Vineesh, 24. According to the police, the blast happened near a timber mill at Mulyathodu under ...
- Australia: Nations combine on mine warfare activity
April 5, 2024
The Royal Australian Navy has laid sea mines for the first time in nearly 50 years during Exercise Dugong. The mine warfare and clearance diving activity, from March 4-22, was designed to test a combined force from Australia, New Zealand and the US against a realistic mine threat. Prior to the exercise, inert mines were laid ...
- 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 ...
- Ukraine: International partners have allocated over US$700 million for humanitarian mine action projects
April 4, 2024
Ukraine’s international partners have allocated more than US$700 million in equivalent funds for humanitarian demining projects between 2022 and 2027. It is noted that the key donors to Ukraine are the USA, Switzerland, Norway, EU countries, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and others. “Through joint work, it is possible to return land to productive use, protect the ...
- 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 ...
- NATO to plan long-term Ukraine aid, mulls 100-billion euro fund
April 4, 2024
NATO allies agreed on Wednesday to initiate planning on long-term military support for Ukraine, but a proposal by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to do so via a 100 billion-euro ($107 billion) five-year fund drew mixed responses. Ministers said such a fund would not be easy to put together. Ukraine said it would be welcome, but ...
- Liquid restrictions at UK airports to remain in place until June 2025
April 4, 2024
Travellers will have to wait another year for 100ml limit to be lifted after government extends deadline for new scanners. The Department for Transport had previously set a target for the introduction of 3D scanners in all UK airports by 1 June, but this has now been extended by 12 months because some major airports will not be ...