News – October 2023


  • Syria: Drone attack on government military college leaves scores dead

    October 5, 2023

    At least 60 people have been killed following a drone attack on a graduation ceremony for government forces in western Syria on Thursday, the military said. The attack targeted the Homs military college and left casualties among civilians and members of the armed forces who were in attendance, according to the state-run Sana news agency. Read ...

  • Ukraine: Cheap drones rigged with explosives have become the leading anti-tank weapon against Russian forces

    October 5, 2023

    Cheap drones rigged with explosive devices have become extremely prominent and have emerged as the leading anti-tank weapon for the Ukrainian military in Russia’s war against it. A Ukrainian officer told The Washington Post in a report published on Wednesday that first-person-view (FPV) drones, which are operated remotely with the use of a controller and headset, ...

  • Mexico: Police raid on a house in Jalisco uncovers workshop for making drone-carried bombs

    October 4, 2023

    A police raid on a house built to look like a castle uncovered a workshop for making drone-carried bombs, authorities in Mexico’s western state of Jalisco said Wednesday. State police distributed photos of 40 small cylindrical bombs with fins meant to be released from drones. Police also found bomb-making materials, including about 45 pounds (20 kilograms) ...

  • Ohio: Firefighter makes history as Cincinnati’s first female bomb technician

    October 4, 2023

    More people will climb Mount Everest this year than get a highly dangerous certification. The nation’s only hazardous devices school graduates 400 people a year, very few are women. One of those female graduates is making history in Cincinnati. “We were running real life scenarios multiple times a day, two in the morning, two in the ...

  • Vietnam: Military defuses 337-kg bomb in Quang Binh province

    October 4, 2023

    A military task force on Wednesday defused a 337-kg bomb left over from the Vietnam War in a forest in Quang Binh Province. The U.S. multi-purpose bomb had a M112 demolition charge. It was discovered by locals in a melaleuca forest in Quang Trach District. According to data from the Ministry of National Defense’s Technology Center for ...

  • IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine – Update 186

    October 4, 2023

    In a significant development for the IAEA’s mission at the site, Director General Grossi said the Agency had taken delivery of armoured vehicles acquired with extra-budgetary support from Japan. In addition, funding from Germany has enabled the IAEA to hire drivers and security personnel for these rotations. The new IAEA team continues to request access to ...

  • EU confirms readiness to support Ukraine in mine clearance

    October 4, 2023

    The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has held a meeting with a delegation of the Foreign Policy Instruments Service of the European Commission, headed by Director Peter Wagner, dedicated to mine clearance issues, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported. “Today, on October 4, a delegation of the Foreign Policy Instruments Service ...

  • New York: 150 Law Enforcement Officers Take Part in Excelsior Challenge

    October 4, 2023

    150 members of law enforcement from across the state are taking part in the 7th Annual Excelsior Challenge at the State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany. This year’s event plays host to the largest contingent of law enforcement specialties to date, focused on training to respond to current and emerging threats. Participants include 43 bomb technicians ...

  • Philippines: PNP detonates 362 lbs. of explosives in Tarlac ops

    October 4, 2023

    Bomb technicians of the Philippine National Police-Explosive Ordnance Division (PNP-EOD) disposed of some 362 lbs. of explosives seized in various operations. In a statement Wednesday, the PNP-EOD said the explosives were disposed of in a “critical disposal mission” at Col. Ernesto Ravina Airbase (CERAB), Crow Valley Gunnery Range, Capas, Tarlac on Tuesday afternoon. A total of ...

  • Ukrainian Heavy Bomber Drones Drop Anti-Tank Mines

    October 4, 2023

    The TM-62 anti-tank mine has been one of the signature weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war. Buried or just scattered on the surface in vast numbers, the 24-pound mine has slowed attacks by both Russian and Ukrainian forces, disabling many tanks and other vehicles. Now videos show the mine being used in a way never envisaged by ...

  • 87th EOD Trains To Clear Improvised Flight Line

    October 3, 2023

    Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. – Explosive ordnance disposal technicians from the 87th Civil Engineer Squadron, train to dispose of the disabled ordnance at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., on Sept 26, 2023. The EOD technicians are trained to clear unexploded ordnance from an improvised flight line. Read more… Source: U.S. Air Force, JB MDL  

  • Kenya: Two Al-Shabaab militants killed, others injured while planting explosives in Garissa

    October 3, 2023

    Two Al-Shabaab terrorists have died as several others sustained serious injuries following an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion along Amuma-Ruqa Road in Garissa County. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), in a statement on Tuesday, termed the morning incident as ‘karma’ saying the militants were planting the explosive device to target innocent civilians and police officers ...

  • Afghanistan: Mine explosion kills two children in Jawzjan

    October 3, 2023

    Local government officials in Jowzjan province have tragically confirmed the loss of two children due to a devastating mine explosion, and another child was injured due to the incident. Abdul Satar Haleemi, the spokesperson for Jowzjan police, informed the media on Tuesday that the incident occurred in the province’s Qara Chonqol Hill of Darzab district. Previously, ...

  • High Threat IEDD Exercise, Northern Challenge 23: A First for the 26MEU(SOC) and the U.S. Marine Corps

    October 3, 2023

    KEFLAVIK, ICELAND – U.S. Marine Corps explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) operators from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (26MEU(SOC)) participated in Exercise Northern Challenge 2023 alongside various NATO Allies and partners, Sept. 21 to Oct. 5. Northern Challenge 2023 is an annual, Icelandic Coast Guard-led exercise, designed to provide the most modernized explosive ...

  • Niger: 29 soldiers killed in a suspected jihadist attack

    October 3, 2023

    Niger began three days of national mourning Tuesday after 29 soldiers were killed in a suspected jihadist attack, the deadliest since the military took power in July. Monday’s attack in western Niger involved “improvised explosive devices and kamikaze vehicles by more than a hundred terrorists”, the Ministry of Defence said in a televised statement. The attack ...

  • IAEA Training Centre for Nuclear Security Opens Doors to Build Expertise in Countering Nuclear Terrorism

    October 3, 2023

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) opened today a unique nuclear security training centre, the first international facility of its type, to support the growing efforts to tackle global nuclear terrorism. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi officially opened the IAEA Nuclear Security Training and Demonstration Centre during a ceremony at the Agency’s Seibersdorf laboratories ...

  • Hungarian Major General takes over the Command of EUFOR in BiH

    October 3, 2023

    Hungarian Defense Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky confirmed today that the command of the EUFOR Althea mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be taken over by Major General Laszlo Sticz from January 1, 2024, and announced the reinforcement of the mission with additional forces during the next year. Hungarian Armed Forces will contribute to the Althea mission through ...

  • The Government of Sweden extends its support to explosive hazards management activities in Iraq

    October 2, 2023

    The Government of Sweden contributed an additional 10 million Swedish Krona (SEK) (USD 898,133.84) to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in support of the humanitarian mine action sector endeavors to reduce the risks of explosive ordnance contamination and protect the lives of vulnerable communities in Iraq. Since UNMAS programme inception in 2015, the Government ...

  • UK: Report published by CTPNW into the explosion outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital

    October 2, 2023

    Report by Counter Terrorism Policing North West published into the explosion outside the Liverpool Women’s Hospital in November 2021 Following the conclusion of the investigation into the terrorist incident outside the Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday in 2021, Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW) today published a report of key findings. On the morning of ...

  • Pennsylvania: Explosions lead to discovery of multiple homemade explosives in Bucks County

    October 2, 2023

    Two suspects are in custody after multiple explosions rocked a community in Bucks County over the weekend. The explosions were reported near Easton Road and Street Road Valley Square in Warrington Township overnight Sunday. Police say they stopped a vehicle leaving the area with two men, and multiple illegal improvised explosive devices inside. One of the ...

  • European Defence Agency monitored project links ground and aerial systems to detect explosives

    October 2, 2023

    The European Defence Agency has overseen the final demonstration of coordination between aerial and ground unmanned systems in the detection of explosives. During the demonstration, one aerial unmanned system and two ground unmanned systems, each equipped with different sensors, undertook a complete autonomous search to detect mock-ups of explosives and improvised explosive devices, including unexploded ordinance ...

  • Sweden: What is the cause of ‘terrorist-like’ epidemic of violence?

    October 2, 2023

    In just a 12-hour period last week, an 18-year-old rapper was executed on a sports field near Stockholm, a second man shot dead and the 25-year-old woman referred to by Kristersson was killed in a bomb attack in Uppsala, about 70km north of Stockholm. “Sweden has never before seen anything like this,” Kristersson said. “No other ...

  • Cambodia: CMAA warns of UXO’s risk during floods

    October 2, 2023

    The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) has alerted the public to be aware of the danger of buried landmines being exposed during floods. In a notification, CMAA First Vice-President Ly Thuch noted that during and after floods, some explosive remnants of war could be unearthed by landslides or strong currents and these could ...

  • UK: South Shields man arrested after bomb experts called to a house

    October 2, 2023

    A man arrested after bomb disposal experts were called to a house has admitted having an explosive substance. Homes were evacuated on St Aidan’s Road, South Shields, South Tyneside, and suspicious items were seized after an explosion was reported on a Sunday afternoon in June. Read more… Source: The Shields Gazette