Iraq: Duhok clears over 540,000 square meters of explosives in 2024

On Thursday, the General Directorate for Mine Affairs in Duhok announced its 2024 statistics regarding efforts to remove explosive materials across the governorate. The Head of the Directorate, Shilan Naheli, told Shafaq News that mine clearance teams successfully cleared seven Read More …

Yemen: Annual Mine Action Update 2024

During 2024, the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) has recorded 61 landmine and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) related incidents in Hudaydah Governorate. A total of 41 civilians were killed and another 52 were injured. 40 Read More …

Malaysia: WWII bomb safely detonated in the waters off Semporna

A World War II-era bomb was safely detonated by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) in the waters off Pulau Sibuan, Semporna, on Saturday evening (Jan 11). The unexploded ordnance (UXO), discovered by local fishermen on Jan 7, had remained dormant Read More …

Syria: Legacy of war still causing mass death and injury, says landmine clearance charity

At least 80 civilians, including 12 children, have been killed by landmines and other explosive debris of war in the month since the Syrian strongman Bashar Al-Assad was toppled on December 8 last year. According to Mouiad Alnofaly, HALO’s Operations Read More …

Cambodia sees spike in landmine, ERW casualties in 2024

Cambodia recorded 49 landmines and explosive remnant of war (ERW) casualties in 2024, up 53 percent from 32 in the year before, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. “Twelve people were killed, 29 injured, and eight amputated due to landmine and Read More …

Micronesia: Palau is littered with WWII munitions 80 years after the war

Palauan Sharla Paules surveys the contaminated ground of her lush tropical home island of Peleliu, still littered with WWII munitions 80 years after its liberation from the Japanese. She recalls as a child her grandmother warning the land was poisoned Read More …

Israel: Police sappers remove rocket remnants from Kfar Saba school

Police sappers (bomb disposal personnel) removed the remnants of an old rocket discovered at a school in Kfar Saba, the police announced Tuesday. An initial investigation revealed that while students were playing in the school’s sandlot, they began digging and Read More …

Vietnam: Over-220kg bomb with intact fuse safely handled in Quang Binh

The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in Vietnam confirmed on January 4 that its experts and mobile bomb disposal team have safely handled and moved a bomb weighing over 220 kg to a secure storage area in the central province of Read More …

UK: East Anglia’s hidden and explosive dangers

East Anglia offers a unique opportunity for offshore energy generation, as well as other large scale infrastructure projects, such as the Lower Thames crossing. There has been many a failed dream too, from Maplin Sands, to London Britannia aka ‘Boris Read More …

Cambodia: CMAA eyes demining 200 sq km of land in 2025

The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) plans to clear more than 200 square kilometres of land with mines and unexploded ordnance in 2025. This will make land safe for people to live on and cultivate. First Vice-President Read More …

UNAMA: Landmines still threaten people in Afghanistan

UNAMA has stressed the urgent need for mine clearance measures in Afghanistan, adding that unexploded ground mines in Afghanistan still threaten people, especially children. Earlier, the HaloTrust mine clearance agency said more than 65 square kilometers of Afghanistan’s territory was Read More …

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 …