UN demining body explodes landmines in South Sudan

After decades of civil war, landmines and unexploded bombs still contaminate large tracts of South Sudan’s landscape, threatening the lives and livelihoods of its residents. In the village of Gondokoro, a few kilometres from the capital Juba, the United Nations Read More …

Japan is still blowing up unexploded ordnance on Okinawa nearly 77 years after World War II

On Wednesday, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force conducted an underwater detonation of 315 artillery shells, grenades, and bullets, roughly a half-mile offshore at Naha Port’s Shinko Wharf, in Okinawa. The unexploded ordnance was recovered during dredging of Naha Port between Read More …

Afghanistan: Norwegian charities pledge humanitarian assistance during IEA’s visit to Oslo

Representatives of Norwegian charities and organizations met with acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, during his three-day visit to Oslo, and pledged assistance to Afghanistan in various fields, including health and education. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi wrote on Read More …

Cambodia: Mekong UXO search off until waters recede in Kandal and Preveng provinces

Officials have requested modern technological equipment to enable them to continue their work of collecting unexploded ordnance (UXO) in sunken warships in the Mekong River in four areas of Kandal and Preveng provinces. Authorities have found many weapons and other Read More …

Cambodia: CMAC discusses training for deminers with Colombian Ambassador

Cambodia Mine Action Centre (CMAC) director-general Heng Ratana had a meeting with Colombian Ambassador Ana Maria Prieto Abad to discuss training demining experts on Friday at CMAC’s office. Ratana said that they discussed a number of remarkable efforts and commitments Read More …

Japan to assist Cambodia to become a landmine-free nation

Japan’s assistance to Cambodia in the decade’s long battle to clear vast areas of landmines in the country would perhaps be close to taking yet another step forward, going by the words of Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hayashi Yoshimasa. Read More …

South Sudan: Floods hampering UNMAS demining work in Jonglei State’s Pigi County

It may look idyllic, but the presence of a minefield is a threat to these villagers in Pigi County. Floods have so far made clearance of the area impossible. Residents in Pigi County, on the Jonglei State side of the Read More …

Beijing clears US bombs before constructing China-Laos railway

Despite ending nearly 50 years ago, US military operations in Laos have left behind a legacy of destruction that still endangers lives today. On Dec 3, 2021, the China-Laos railway opened to traffic, connecting Kunming in southwest China’s Yunnan province Read More …

Magawa, ‘hero rat’ who sniffed out 71 land mines, dies in retirement

Cambodia’s landmine-sniffing rat Magawa, who found more than 100 landmines and explosives during a five-year career, has died at the age of 8, leaving a lasting legacy of saved lives in the Southeast Asian nation. Magawa, who died over the Read More …

Cambodia: Temple tourist sites are mine clearing priorities

The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) has cleared more than 40ha of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in two temple areas in Preah Vihear province and continues to do so at the request of the National Authority for Preah Vihear Read More …

First graduation ceremony for 28 female deminers in Sudan

After a month-long training, the first batch of 28 young women graduated in basic humanitarian demining, joining only one other female deminer in Sudan. The successful completion of the training is an unprecedented achievement for both mine action and Sudan Read More …

Mechanical Equipment in IED Clearance: Observations from Iraq

Mechanical equipment has been in the inventory of conventional military forces for the purposes of military engineering—including demining—since the Second World War. The integration of mechanical equipment into UNMAS Iraq clearance activities may have therefore seemed a natural evolution from Read More …

Connecticut: Greenwich students learn how mine detection dogs make ‘this planet a safer place’

Sammy, a Belgian shepherd, paid a visit to local students recently as part of the Marshall Legacy Institute’s annual CHAMPS presentation on the importance of her former work as a mine detection dog. Sammy, who retired from her work in Read More …

Russian peacekeepers destroyed explosive objects detected in Nagorno-Karabakh

Servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent destroyed the ammo detected at the territory of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). During one day sappers destroyed eight ammo for hand-held antitank grenade launcher detected in Martuni district. Disposal of the detected explosive devices (EDs) was Read More …

Croatia: Zadar County cleared of mines left over from Homeland War

Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović attended a ceremony in Zadar on Friday marking the completion of mine clearance activities in Zadar County. Zadar County head Božidar Longin was presented on that occasion with a certificate showing that the county Read More …

Cambodia: CMAC animal deminers get boost from APOPO

The Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) and APOPO, a registered Belgian non-governmental organisation and US non-profit which trains southern giant-pouched rats to detect landmines and tuberculosis, entered an agreement of cooperation to boost demining activities in Cambodia using animal detection Read More …

Israel Defense Ministry completes demining operation near Egypt border

Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister Alon Schuster congratulated the Ministry of Defense’s Israel National Mine Action Authority on Wednesday for completing an operation to clear an area of the Negev Desert near the Egyptian border of mines. The area, stretching out Read More …

Azerbaijan, UK sign MoU in mine clearance

The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) and the British non-governmental organization (NGO) Mines Advisory Group (MAG) have signed a memorandum of understanding, Trend reports citing the ANAMA. “According to the plan jointly prepared within the framework of the Read More …

Switzerland Avails US$1 Million For Demining In Zimbabwe

Switzerland, through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), has provided US$1 million to APOPO Mine Action for clearing a dense minefield in the Sengwe Wildlife Corridor in Southern Zimbabwe for the next two years. The project, meant for Read More …

Cambodia: Some 82,000 landmines and UXOs destroyed in first eleven months

Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) destroyed 82,138 landmines and UXOs in the first eleven months of this year. The update was shared yesterday by the Director General of CMAC, Heng Ratana, highlighting that the move has freed over 91,919,972 square Read More …