News – April 2025


  • Joint Australian Training Team – Philippines: Sappers get a blast out of shared training

    April 28, 2025

    Under the beating sun in Tarlac City in the Philippines, Australian explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) specialists recently exchanged experience and techniques with their Filipino counterparts. In late February and early March, an eight-person mobile training team (MTT) from Australia delivered training focused on counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) skills. The MTT comprised members of the Australian Army’s ...

  • US forces have hit more than 800 targets in Yemen since March

    April 27, 2025

    The U.S. military carried out airstrikes on more than 800 targets in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen since March 15, U.S. Central Command said this past week. These strikes have destroyed multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities, advanced weapons storage locations, and killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders,” CENTCOM spokesman ...

  • Philippines: 6 Central Mindanao terrorist bomb makers surrender to Army

    April 27, 2025

    Six more members of two now defunct terror groups, all experts in fabrication of home-made bombs, had surrendered to an Army unit and pledged allegiance to the government. Major Gen. Donald Guimiran, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told reporters on Sunday, April 27, that the six men promised to reform for good before officials ...

  • Utah: 71 explosive devices, bomb-making materials found in Orem man’s apartment

    April 27, 2025

    A total of 71 explosive devices, as well as a large amount of bomb-making materials, were found in an Orem man’s apartment after he was arrested for brandishing a weapon near a Provo mall on Friday, according to Provo Police. Following Friday’s arrest Eric Whitaker, 41, for possession of devices near the Provo Towne Centre Mall, ...

  • Campaigners sound alarm as European nations move to exit landmine ban

    April 27, 2025

    Rights groups have expressed alarm and warned of a slippery slope of again embracing one of the world’s most treacherous weapons, after five European countries said they intend to withdraw from the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines. In announcing their plans earlier this year, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all pointed to the escalating military ...

  • Pakistani troops kill 54 militants attempting to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan

    April 27, 2025

    Pakistani security forces overnight killed 54 militants who attempted to cross into the country from Afghanistan, the military said Sunday, marking one of the deadliest such killings in recent years. The military said in a statement that intelligence reports indicated that the killed militants were “Khwarij” — a phrase the government uses for the Pakistani Taliban. ...

  • Fifty years after the Vietnam War, bombs and landmines still cover an area ‘the size of Tasmania’

    April 27, 2025

    They found one while digging the foundations of a new hotel. Another was discovered in the middle of a park. A family spotted one in their garden. And Ho Van Lai and his cousins found several in the sand dunes, strange, rusted objects, no larger than a tennis ball. “I was just a 10-year-old boy, ...

  • British Columbia: Several people killed after SUV rams into Vancouver street festival

    April 27, 2025

    Several people have been killed and multiple others injured after the driver of a black SUV slammed into a crowd at a street festival Saturday evening, say Vancouver police. It happened shortly after 8 p.m. near East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street, where the Lapu Lapu Day Block Party was winding down, after drawing up ...

  • Ukraine: Car hits explosive device in Kharkiv region, three injured

    April 27, 2025

    On April 27, a car with three passengers hit an explosive device in the Izium district of Kharkiv region, leaving all three injured. The incident was reported by the Mine Action Coordination Center at the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, according to Ukrinform. “In the evening, in the village of Mala Komyshuvakha, Izium district, a car struck ...

  • Iran: 25 killed and more than 800 injured in the Shahid Rajaee Port explosion

    April 27, 2025

    The death toll from a massive explosion that rocked Iran’s southern Shahid Rajaei Port on Saturday has risen to 25, while nearly 800 people have been injured. Director general of the Justice Ministry’s office at the Hormozgan Province announced on Sunday that the catastrophic blast has killed 25 people so far. A spokesperson for Iran’s crisis ...

  • India: Soldier injured in IED blast in Chhattisgarh

    April 26, 2025

    A soldier sustained injuries when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded, striking his leg during an intense operation against Maoists on the Karregutta Hills area of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh. The explosion caused significant damage, but his fellow soldiers acted swiftly, evacuating him from the danger zone and transporting him to the Central Reserve Police Force ...

  • Russia: FSB released details of explosive device which killed General Moskalik

    April 26, 2025

    The improvised explosive device (IED) with which General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed was assembled from TNT blocks, bolts and nails. This follows from the video of the FSB of the Russian Federation, filmed at the site of the explosion in Balashikha. На кадрах показаны части самодельного взрывного устройства, болты и гвозди, которыми оно было начинено. Также ...

  • Yemen’s Houthi fighters down $200m worth of US drones in under six weeks

    April 25, 2025

    Yemen’s Houthi armed group has shot down seven US Reaper drones worth more than $200m in recent weeks, marking the most significant material loss yet in Washington’s campaign against the fighters. The drones were destroyed between March 31 and April 22, according to defence officials, as the Houthis step up efforts to target United States aircraft ...

  • Slovenia: Two construction workers seriously injured after explosion in Rožni Dolina

    April 25, 2025

    Ljubljana police officers were notified of a work accident in the Rožni dolini. According to initial information, an explosion occurred while carrying out work on one of the buildings, in which two men who were performing construction work were seriously injured. The cause of the explosion has not yet been clarified, but according to the first ...

  • Texas: World record defused, Fort Cavazos captain runs fastest bomb suit mile

    April 25, 2025

    FORT CAVAZOS, Texas – As the sounds of Soldiers conducting physical training filled Phantom Warrior Stadium April 25, U.S. Army Capt. Travis Chewning-Kulick, commander of the 752nd Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), was surrounded like a race car at a pit stop. His EOD teammates helped ensure every part of his 50-pound bomb suit was ready ...

  • Pakistan: Four killed, five injured in IED explosion in Kalat

    April 25, 2025

    In a tragic incident in Balochistan’s Kalat district, an improvised explosive device (IED) placed by the roadside detonated, killing four people, including women and children, and injuring five others, local media reported on Thursday. According to sources from the Levies, the blast occurred near Kabuto, completely destroying the vehicle that was passing by. The explosion resulted ...

  • Vietnam: Mine clearance at Quang Tri ancient citadel completed

    April 25, 2025

    The UK’s Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and the Quang Tri Mine Action Centre (QTMAC), in coordination with the Quang Tri Ancient Citadel Management Board, on April 24 handed over the cleared site after completing mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance at the Quang Tri Ancient Citadel, a national special relic site. Since September 2024, the MAG ...

  • Russia: General Yaroslav Moskalik killed in explosion in Balashikha

    April 25, 2025

    The deputy head of the Main Operational Directorate (GOU) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, was killed in a car explosion in Balashikha, Moscow region. “According to preliminary information, as a result of the explosion, the deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General ...

  • Indian and Pakistani troops exchange fire in Kashmir

    April 25, 2025

    Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire overnight across the Line of Control in disputed Kashmir, officials said Friday, after the United Nations urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show “maximum restraint” following a deadly shooting in the region. Relations have plunged to their lowest level in years, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after ...

  • Cambodia: Botum Sakor district in Koh Kong to be declared mine-free

    April 25, 2025

    The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) is set to declare Botum Sakor district in Koh Kong province free of landmines on April 29, according to CMAA spokesman Lang Kosal. Kosal stated that the CMAA, in collaboration with the Embassy of India and the Koh Kong provincial administration, will officially announce Botum Sakor as ...

  • California: Live military-grade mortar found inside stolen vehicle in Sacramento

    April 24, 2025

    Not your average day, is what California Highway Patrol North Sacramento is saying after a live mortar was found inside a stolen vehicle. CHP say on Tuesday they recovered a stolen SUV. During a search, K9 officers sniffed out a live 60-millimeter mortar. CHP says the military-grade munition was not under military control and had been ...

  • Sudan mine agency reports 40 incidents, 66 casualties since conflict began

    April 24, 2025

    Sudan’s National Mine Action Center (NMAC) announced on Wednesday that 40 incidents involving landmine or Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) explosions have been recorded since the conflict began in April 2023, killing 16 people and injuring 50 others in various parts of the country. Since the conflict erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the ...

  • Somali forces repel Al-Shabaab attack on strategic military base in Middle Shabelle region

    April 24, 2025

    Somali army forces repelled an early morning Al-Shabaab assault on a key military base in the Wargaadhi area of Middle Shabelle region on Thursday, according to government officials. The attack began shortly after morning prayers with explosions and a coordinated ground assault by Al-Shabaab militants. The Wargaadhi base, located along a critical supply route, hosts elite ...

  • UK lifts sanctions on dozen Syrian government bodies

    April 24, 2025

    The United Kingdom has removed its sanctions on 12 Syrian government entities, including the Ministries of Defence and Interior and the General Intelligence Directorate. The move on Thursday was made four months after the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) armed group led opposition groups in ousting President Bashar al-Assad following more than 13 years of war. The ...