News – October 2023


  • Explained: ‘Sponge Bomb,’ Israel’s new weapon to secure Hamas’ underground tunnels

    October 27, 2023

    As the conflict between Israel and Hamas intensifies, Israeli forces, as per reports, are set to use a ‘novel’ arsenal of tactics. This includes the use of innovative bomb known as “sponge bombs” which can seal off the intricate network of tunnels beneath Gaza without any explosions. The “sponge bombs” are a chemical weapon and are ...

  • Pakistan: Two IEDs defused in Bannu

    October 26, 2023

    The personnel of the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) defused two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and saved the area from destruction in Janikhel on Wednesday. The police said that suspected militants had planted two IEDs, one each to a grocery shop at Sardikhel Mandi and Bannu-Janikhel road in Khwaja Darkhel areas. Read more… Source: The News  

  • Cambodia wants more Ottawa Convention signatories

    October 26, 2023

    Cambodia wants more countries to sign the Ottawa Convention so that the world can get rid of landmines and other UXOs faster to end the suffering of people residing in contaminated areas. The 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and Their Destruction is an international agreement ...

  • FBI: Threats Associated with the Israel-HAMAS Conflict

    October 26, 2023

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are issuing this Public Service Announcement to highlight potential threats in the United States from a variety of actors in response to the HAMAS attacks on Israel on 7 October and subsequent activities in the region, including additional calls by foreign terrorist organizations ...

  • Greece: WWII bomb diffused in Athens suburb

    October 26, 2023

    A WWII-era bomb found during works in the Athens suburb of Glyfada was diffused on Thursday morning. The Land Mine Clearance Battalion (TENX) conducted a special operation at the location of the discovery. Reports say that the 226 kg (500 lb) bomb was defused using thermite and without the need for an explosion. Read more… Source: Greek ...

  • NATO tests new regional ‘deterrence and defense’ plans

    October 25, 2023

    BRUNSSUM, Netherlands — NATO ended its largest and most complex computer-assisted, command post exercise of the 21st century on Oct. 19. Exercise Steadfast Jupiter 2023 included more than 7,000 personnel from 17 NATO nations and 24 multinational headquarters exercising every aspect of military operations from the strategic to the tactical levels. “Steadfast Jupiter 23 is important ...

  • Ireland: Explosive discovered in field in operation targeting Limerick organised crime

    October 25, 2023

    Gardaí arrested five men and seized drugs worth over €70,000 in an operation targeting organised crime in Co Limerick on Tuesday. A number of searches were conducted by gardaí attached to Limerick crime functional area at locations in Limerick, Cork and Clare. During the search of a field in the Limerick area, the assistance of the ...

  • Hungary hosts international training for military divers who salvage unexploded munitions

    October 25, 2023

    Soldiers from across Europe suited up in heavy diving equipment inside a cavernous flooded stone quarry deep beneath the Hungarian capital. Once their air tanks, flippers and waterproof diving suits were secured, they slipped beneath the cold water and, flashlights in hand, disappeared into the darkness. The military divers from Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Lithuania were ...

  • Mexican drug cartels throwing explosives along Texas southern border

    October 25, 2023

    Mexican drug cartel operatives continue to engage in violent acts along the southern border of Texas near the Rio Grande, as new video shows them throwing explosives as an intimidation tactic, authorities say. The Texas Department of Public Safety posted video to social media on Wednesday showing both thermal and non-thermal views of a group of ...

  • IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine – Update 190

    October 25, 2023

    Powerful explosions shook an area near Ukraine’s Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant (KhNPP) overnight, shattering many windows at the site and temporarily cutting power to some off-site radiation monitoring stations, once again highlighting the dangers to nuclear safety and security during the ongoing military conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency ...

  • India: Man arrested for hurling crude bomb outside Tamil Nadu governor’s residence

    October 24, 2023

    A man was arrested on Wednesday (Oct 25) from India’s southern Chennai city after he hurled a crude bomb outside the Tamil Nadu state governor’s residence. Police said that upon reaching the main gate the alleged perpetrator pulled out a Molotov cocktail – colloquially referred as petrol bombs — lit it, and threw it at the ...

  • US troops in Middle East attacked 14 times, injuring 24 people over the last week

    October 24, 2023

    U.S. troops positioned in the Middle East have been attacked 14 times in the last week with a mix of one-way drones and rockets, resulting in 24 people getting injured, according to Pentagon officials. U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed Tuesday that troops in Iraq had been attacked 11 times ...

  • JBSA Explosive Ordnance Disposal Holds Inaugural Joint Field Training Exercise

    October 24, 2023

    JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-CAMP BULLIS, Texas – Joint Base San Antonio’s 902nd Civil Engineer Squadron and 433rd CES held the inaugural 2023 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Texas Regional Field Training Exercise late last month with members from Dyess Air Force Base’s 7th CES and Barksdale AFB’s 2nd CES. “We were talking about the need to have quality ...

  • 3DX-Ray announce significant sales in the run up to Milipol Paris 2023

    October 24, 2023

    3DX-Ray who will be exhibiting once again at this year’s important Milipol Exhibition in Paris, have announced the successful sale of four AS1 Portable X-Ray Systems and four more AXIS-A33 walk-through metal detectors. The AS1 Portable X-Ray Systems are a repeat sale of four systems to an established EOD Unit customer in SE Asia. These systems ...

  • Vietnam: A So airport cleared from dioxin contamination

    October 24, 2023

    The Chemical Command under the Ministry of Defence on October 24 announced the completion of dioxin cleanup at A So airport in A Luoi district, the central province of Thua Thien – Hue. Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Minister of Defence and head of the National Steering Committee on the Settlement of Post-war ...

  • Sri Lanka: Deminers injured in mine blasts

    October 23, 2023

    Four deminers were wounded on Saturday due to mine explosions.Police Spokesman, SSP Nihal Thalduwa, told the media that the incident had happened in Mullaitivu. Thalduwa said the deminers had been clearing unexploded mines in the former war zone when two explosions occurred injuring four of them and damaging a bulldozer. Read more… Source: The Island Online  

  • ATMIS police officers sharpen skills on explosive hazard movements in Somalia

    October 23, 2023

    The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) said Monday its police officers have successfully wrapped up an explosive hazard and awareness training course in Baidoa, southwest Somalia, to ensure the safety and security of the people. The ATMIS said the training featured practical demonstrations on convoy movement planning, countering complex attacks and improvised explosive device ...

  • UK: World War Two bomb discovered in River Wey near anti-tank obstacles

    October 23, 2023

    A Second World War “bomb” was found in Guildford on Sunday morning (October 22) by a group of magnet fishermen who pulled the relic from the River Wey. Police were called to the scene close to Stoke Park and the item was disposed of by the bomb squad. One of the men who made the concerning ...

  • IAEA: International Exercise Builds Resilience for Emergency Preparedness

    October 23, 2023

    Resilient and agile response arrangements are an essential component of countries’ emergency response frameworks, as decisions made in the early stages of an emergency can be instrumental in saving lives. On 3 October 2023, the IAEA together with 62 countries and international organizations came together to simulate a global response to a nuclear emergency and examine ...

  • Israel launches strike on Hamas tunnel to stop ‘imminent terror attack’

    October 22, 2023

    Israeli forces conducted an airstrike on the Al-Ansar mosque in Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank, which they said was being used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants “who were organizing an imminent terror attack.” In a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Securities Authority on Sunday morning, officials ...

  • Ukrainian sappers destroy mine washed ashore in Odesa region

    October 22, 2023

    In the town of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, military sappers have successfully neutralized a sea mine that washed ashore earlier. The sea mine was discovered in the Chornomosrk Bay on Friday, October 20. Due to a strong storm, the initial controlled destruction failed so the mine remained in the coastal waters until a favorable weather set in ...

  • Somalia: Death toll rises to 6 in Al-Shabab attack outside Mogadishu

    October 21, 2023

    The number of people killed by a car bomb blast that exploded outside the Somali capital, Mogadishu on Saturday morning has jumped to at least 6. The al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for Saturday’s blast, which struck a police checkpoint in Elasha Biyaha area, located about 17 kilometers west of the capital. Read more… Source: Shabelle Media Network  

  • Cyprus: One arrested after bombing near Israel’s Embassy in Nicosia

    October 21, 2023

    Police in Cyprus have arrested one person after a bomb was detonated on Saturday near the Israeli embassy in Nicosia. Officials said the explosion occurred at 1:37 am. Cyprus police report finding shrapnel as close as 30 meters from the embassy. Following the explosion, two people walking near the scene of the explosion were detained, along ...

  • Bulgaria, Türkiye, Romania to organize mine search, clearing operations in Black Sea

    October 21, 2023

    Bulgaria, Türkiye and Romania will soon organize mine search and clearing operations in the Black Sea, Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said Friday. “Some very small details need to be concretized before the operation begins. This operation will increase the security in the territorial waters of our countries,” Tagarev said at the international conference on “Achieving ...