News – March 2023


  • Niger army entered Mali in ‘unprecedented’ hunt for ‘terrorists’: ministry

    March 25, 2023

    Niger’s defence ministry has said its troops killed 79 “terrorists” in operations last week that involved a foray into neighbouring Mali. Troops from the army’s anti-terrorist Almahaou operation began the search after they were attacked by an “armed terrorist group” in Niger’s western town of Tiloa on March 10, the ministry said on Friday. Read more… Source: TRT ...

  • Oregon Army National Guard trains with Bangladesh Army during Exercise Tiger Lightning 2023

    March 24, 2023

    As Exercise Tiger Lightning 2023 began at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Support Operations Training (BIPSOT) center on Feb. 26, 2023, members of the Oregon Army National Guard 3-116 Cavalry Unit, Charlie Company out of Woodburn, Oregon, as well as members of the 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade (5th SFAB) out of Joint Base ...

  • Sri Lanka: UN pre-deployment team scheduled to inspect troops for deployment in Mali

    March 24, 2023

    A high-level UN Assessment and Advisory Team are scheduled to inspect self-sustenance equipment, combat vehicles and accessories, de-mining devices, Explosive Ordnance Devices, logistic and medical equipment, military hardware and witness mock demonstrations during their visits (March 20-25) to the 1 Sri Lanka Army Ordnance Corps, Engineer Division, School of Military Engineering at Embilipitiya, Sri Lanka ...

  • Northern Ireland: Police and ATO launch major counter terror search in Londonderry

    March 24, 2023

    Police and Ammunition Technical Officers are at the scene of a major counter terror search in the Letterkenny Road area of Derry. The Belfast Telegraph understands that an intelligence-led operation brought police to the area shortly before 9am. The bulk of the search is focusing on abandoned buildings and wasteland at the former Daisyfield Park site. Pictures ...

  • Yemen: The world’s worst humanitarian crisis

    March 24, 2023

    Thousands across Yemen maimed and mutilated by unexploded weapons and land mines. Some are mortars or rockets fired between rival groups fighting over residential streets, others are mines and booby traps deliberately left behind by retreating forces. Landmines and other explosive devices killed or injured a child every two days during 2022, according to analysis by ...

  • Thailand: Pattaya ping pong bomb hooligans injure 2 women

    March 23, 2023

    A group of teenage hooligans in Pattaya threw ping pong bombs at two women in the early hours of this morning, leaving them with injuries. At around 1am, a group of approximately 10 teenagers on five motorcycles approached them and hurled a ping pong bomb at them for no apparent reason. The explosion caused slight injuries ...

  • Yemen war eight years on: Child killed or injured by explosives every two days in 2022

    March 23, 2023

    A child in Yemen was killed or injured by explosives every two days in 2022, new research has found, as the country enters its ninth consecutive year of conflict. Yemen is littered with landmines and unexploded ordinance such as mortars, rockets and artillery shells following years of devastating conflict. Some children have stepped on the explosives ...

  • The Radioactive Legacy of Depleted Uranium Ammunition Comes to Ukraine

    March 23, 2023

    The United Kingdom is sending Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine equipped with armor piercing depleted uranium rounds. Countries like the U.S., U.K., and Russia manufacture ammunition using depleted uranium because the metal is heavy and dense, making it ideal to break apart enemy armor. But it’s a highly controversial weapon because it’s radioactive and toxic, ...

  • UK: Controlled explosion of device with US Navy markings found on Devon beach

    March 22, 2023

    A controlled explosion has been carried out on a beach in Devon, after a device with US Navy markings was found. In a statement online, Prawle Point Coastguard Team said it was called to reports of the device on Leas Foot Sands in Thurlestone on Monday night (20 March). Read more… Source: ITV News  

  • Second Africa-India joint military exercise commences in city

    March 22, 2023

    The second edition of the Africa-India Field Training Exercise (AFINDEX-2023) between India and 23 African nations began on Tuesday at the Foreign Training Node in Aundh. This unique field training exercise is attended by 100 participants from Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, ...

  • Six Cameroonian soldiers injured in landmine explosion

    March 22, 2023

    At least six Cameroonian soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion on Tuesday in the Far North region of the country, according to local and security sources. The soldiers were driving along the Kolofata-Amchide road in the region when their vehicle hit a mine, a security official in the region told Xinhua. Read more… Source: Xinhua News  

  • BIH: Landmine explosion claims life of civilian decades after Bosnian war

    March 22, 2023

    Smajo Zenicanin, a 48-year civilian national of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), has been killed in a landmine explosion in a marked minefield near Doboj, 150 km north of the capital Sarajevo, the state-owned news agency SRNA reported on Tuesday. Zenicanin became the country’s 619th casualty of landmines and explosive devices left over after the Bosnian war ...

  • Unexploded Rockets, Mines, and Grenades: Inside the Hunt to Destroy Lethal Ordnance in Ukraine

    March 21, 2023

    Ukraine is almost certainly the country most contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnances in the world. While large parts of Ukraine have been liberated, and the frontline is now far away from most major cities, these deadly remnants of war remain all over the country’s former battlegrounds, endangering innocent civilians. Throughout Ukraine’s fields, grasslands, and ...

  • Ecuador: Journalist opens USB letter bomb in newsroom

    March 21, 2023

    Journalists across Ecuador have been targeted by explosive devices sent through the post. One presenter, Lenin Artieda, was injured when he opened the envelope in the middle of the newsroom. He said the explosive device looked like a USB drive. He plugged it into his computer and it detonated. Read more… Source: BBC News Related news: At least 5 news stations ...

  • Cambodia: Takeo now ‘mine-free’

    March 21, 2023

    Takeo province was officially declared “mine-free” in a March 21 ceremony attended by Ly Thuch, senior minister and first vice-president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), making it the 11th first-order administrative division to be cleared of mines as part of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s campaign to clear the entire Kingdom ...

  • Ukraine has a plan for mine clearance for sowing

    March 21, 2023

    An action plan for mine clearance of agricultural land for the sowing campaign was approved on Monday, 20 March, following the results of the meeting of the National Mine Action Authority. Thus, the simplified procedure for obtaining a permit for carrying out explosive operations during demining and using explosive materials by mine action operators for the ...

  • Nigeria: Troops arrest ‘repentant insurgent’ for ‘facilitating’ terrorist attacks on soldiers

    March 21, 2023

    Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have arrested Ba’ana Bdiya, a “repentant Boko Haram fighter” over a bomb attack that led to the deaths of some soldiers. Alegedly, ‘Manci’, gave out details on the movement of the troops to terrorists on March which led to the ambush of soldiers who were attacked with an improvised explosive device ...

  • The Second Edition of the World Police Summit concludes with record visitor numbers as international security community comes together to tackle evolving criminal landscape

    March 20, 2023

    The second edition of the World Police Summit – hosted by Dubai Police – welcomed more than 13,500 visitors from 110 countries to explore the current challenges facing police forces, and the latest technological advancements, strategies, and innovations across the law enforcement and security spectrum. His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown ...

  • EU gives Ukraine €2bn of ammunition after shell plea

    March 20, 2023

    More than a dozen European Union member states have agreed to supply Ukraine with at least one million artillery shells over the next year. The plan, worth €2bn in total, was agreed in Brussels on Monday. Ukraine had told the EU it needed 350,000 shells a month to hold back advancing Russian troops and launch a ...

  • Ukraine: Kherson region detention facility chief killed in car bomb attack

    March 20, 2023

    In the Kherson region of Ukraine, Serhiy Moskalenko, the chief of the regional pre-trial detention centre who was collaborating with the Russian occupation “government”, has been killed, the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reports. He was 45. “ was a resident of Nova Kakhovka and the owner of the local security firm. ...

  • Solomon Islands: RSIPF-EOD welcome Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Visit to Hells Point

    March 20, 2023

      Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) have welcomed His Excellency Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan during a brief visit to the Hells Points facilities on 19 March 2023. During the brief visit, His Excellency was greeted by the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of ...

  • Pakistan’s forces recover huge cache of weapons from terrorists’ hideout in Balochistan

    March 20, 2023

    Anintelligence-based operation (IBO) was carried out in the general area of Rehman Kahul to clear a suspected hideout of terrorists, linked with recent terror incidents, including the planting of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Chaman and surrounding areas,a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday. Read more… Source: GeoNews  

  • Belgium: Bomb attack targets house in Mechelen

    March 19, 2023

    On Saturday night, an explosive attack on a house in the Zwartzustersberg, Mechelen, caused no injuries but significant damage, police said Sunday morning. The attack was carried out by an explosive device, which was used to blow up the house. Read more… Source: The Brussels Times  

  • New Jersey: Piscataway EMTs Complete Terrorist Bombing Response Training

    March 19, 2023

    As part of their continuing education plan, two members of Piscataway’s River Road Rescue Squad recently completed course work certifying they are ready to respond to terrorist bombing incidents if necessary. Chief Evan Shegoski and Lieutenant Rihi Jain traveled to New Mexico Tech to attend Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings (IRTB) training, a four-day interactive course ...