Vietnam to raise awareness on mine accident prevention and support of victims

By the end of last year, about 5.6 million hectares in Việt Nam were still littered with bombs, mines and explosives left from the resistance wars, equivalent to 17.7 per cent of the country’s land area. The information was disclosed Read More …

Cambodia: CMAC to clear UXOs in three rivers next year

The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) is setting out to clear unexploded ordnances (UXO) in approximately 500 hectares across three river locations next year. Director General Heng Ratana said yesterday that CMAC has designated the three locations on the Tonle Read More …

Iraq: Over 500 mines and explosives removed in Duhok

On Wednesday, the General Directorate for Mine Affairs in Duhok province announced the removal and detonation of over 500 landmines. The Directorate’s Media Official, Reger Besfki, told Shafaq News that a mine and ordnance removal team successfully conducted an operation in Read More …

Somalia concludes explosive management training with Chinese support

The Somali Explosives Management Authority (SEMA) on Monday concluded a training program aimed at tackling the threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war. Funded by the Chinese Embassy in Somalia, the initiative trained 81 participants from federal member states, Read More …

Japan: Unexploded WWII Bomb Detonated by SDF in Nagoya

An unexploded American bomb weighing around 250 kilograms was detonated and removed from a building demolition site in central Nagoya on Sunday morning. The Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) began removing the fuses from the bomb at approximately 10 a.m. While Read More …

Afghanistan: Unexploded Ordnance Claims 137 Lives in 2024

The Directorate of Mine Action Coordination says that since the beginning of 2024, 137 people have been killed and 330 others injured as a result of unexploded ordnance detonations. Nooruddin Rustamkhil, the head of this directorate, told TOLOnews that during Read More …

Syria: Expert warns of ‘massive’ risk from unexploded ordnance

The extent of unexploded ordnance littering Syria will be “massive” and poses a particular threat to children returning to the country, a landmine-clearing leader has warned. Since the fall of the Assad regime last weekend, the Halo Trust has seen Read More …

Declassified satellite photos reveal impacts of Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, the United States dropped more than 8 million tons of bombs and sprayed 74 million liters of Agent Orange and other herbicides in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Nearly 50 years after the war’s end, the deadly Read More …

UNDP Welcomes EUR 1.5 Million Contribution From Italy To Mine Action Programme In Ukraine

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine is to receive a substantial contribution of EUR 1.5 million from the Government of Italy to bolster UNDP’s Mine Action Programme in Ukraine. This funding will significantly enhance efforts to expedite land Read More …

Leveraging new technology for a mine-free future

The devastating legacy of armed conflict – often marked by the indiscriminate use of landmines, improvised explosive devices and other explosive ordnance – poses a significant humanitarian challenge. Innovation in mine action With over 25 years of experience, UNOPS has Read More …

Lebanon: Deminers back in action as critical task awaits in southern Lebanon

Despite the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, most of the Lebanese people displaced over the past three months have already started returning to their homes. However, for most, it is not a happy homecoming. According to the World Bank, Read More …

Children at Risk: The Dangerous Impacts of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas

Conflicts across the globe illustrate the devastating humanitarian consequences when urban areas become theatres of war. The use of explosive weapons in these environments carries numerous implications for civilians, including children. What is being done at the international level, and Read More …

Demining Ukraine’s Farmland: Progress, Adaptation, and Needs

More than one thousand days into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination on Ukrainian farmland remains a complex and pervasive challenge for Ukraine’s farmers and government, its allies, and the global mine action Read More …

Japan steps up WWII bomb disposal after recent discoveries near airfields, ports

Japanese divers working magnetic surveys for the government at two sites on Okinawa discovered 20 pieces of unexploded ordnance believed to be left over from World War II. Most recently, divers found a 5-inch shell on Nov. 26 in 52-foot Read More …

An autonomous microbial sensor enables long-term detection of TNT explosive in natural soil

Engineered microbes can sense target chemicals and respond with programmed actions, using cell sensors to detect specific chemicals and genetic circuits to convert regulatory signals into observable outcomes1,2,3. Microbial sensors have the potential to carry out autonomous, long-term environmental monitoring Read More …

Cross-Border Humanitarian Demining

This guide is intended to advance the clearance of landmines from border areas when there is political will to do so. More specifically, it is meant inform affected states, as well as donor states, of some of the various approaches Read More …

Netherlands: World War II bombs safely neutralized near Moordrecht

Two unexploded World War II aircraft bombs were safely neutralized overnight from Saturday to Sunday near Moordrecht in South Holland, the municipality of Zuidplas reported. The first bomb was rendered safe at approximately 2:15 a.m. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service Read More …

Iraq: Bomb squad dismantles 27 war remnants in Diyala

Ministry of Interior’s Bomb Squad announced on Saturday that it had successfully neutralized 27 war remnants in Diyala province. In a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the ministry said that IED technicians in the Kusayrin area of Read More …

Japanese troops to defuse unexploded WWII bombs found near commercial airport

Japanese ordnance disposal experts plan to defuse two suspected World War II-era bombs found last month on Miyakojima, a popular tourist spot 170 miles southwest of Okinawa. Soldiers with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit expect Read More …

Afghanistan: Mine Clearance Organization warns of IED contamination

The Mine Clearance Organization recently announced that over 65 square kilometers of land in Afghanistan is contaminated with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The organization has called on the global community to increase political and financial support for clearing these devices Read More …