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Thousands of villages and hamlets in Afghanistan have been turned into ghost towns, as landmines and explosive devices continue to claim the lives of civilians in one of the world’s most heavily mined countries. Some of the hidden enemies are Read More …
The Ordnance and Explosives Directorate’s Global Operations Division at Huntsville Center has wrapped up work on a five-year, $310 million multi-range cleanup project in Afghanistan. The division managed the mission of clearing ordnance from 62 now-closed U.S.-operated ranges, most of Read More …
Programs set up in Laos to clear unexploded ordnance left over from heavy U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War are being hindered by shortfalls of funds from foreign donors, sources in the Southeast Asian country say. Speaking to RFA’s Lao Read More …
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) co-organized a reception on 28 March in partnership with the Canadian and British Embassies to Libya to celebrate the “International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action”. Under the theme, “United Nations Read More …
“All people have the right to live in security, and not fear their next step”, António Guterres spelled out in his message, lauding mine action, which “clears paths and creates safe ground on which homes can be built or rebuilt” and Read More …
Ukraine is one of the most mine-affected countries in the world, limiting freedom of movement and posing a serious threat to civilians crossing the contact line. Sheltering in the basement of his family home in eastern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zayika, 71, Read More …
“South Sudan is doable. We are into the endgame now, and we need support to see this one through. It isn’t a thousand-year problem. It isn’t a hundred-year problem. It is a three to five-year problem, and then this goes Read More …
On a fateful September morning in 2013, police at Peshawar’s control centre received a call from one of its units in the suburbs. The caller said an improvised explosive device (IED) had been planted on Frontier Road, which separates Peshawar Read More …
An additional 4.5-million-U.S. dollar funding is needed this year to effectively carry out unexploded ordnance (UXO) operations in Laos. The information came last Friday during the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao)’s annual meeting, local daily Vientiane Times reported Read More …
The Việt Nam National Mine Action Centre (VNMAC) on Tuesday received 200 explosive detectors donated by the government of the Republic of Korea (RoK). The detectors will be used for a project on reducing the impacts of unexploded devices left Read More …
Cambodia has asked Russia to help train Cambodian peacekeepers on clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in order to further improve their capacity in UN peacekeeping operation, according to local media report. Gen. Sem Sovanny, Director General of the Read More …
Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl expressed gratitude on Tuesday to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for supporting Vienna‘s initiative on humanitarian mine clearance in Syria, which is aimed at helping create conditions for the return of refugees and displaced people. Last November, Kneissl announced that Austria and Slovenia launched a joint Read More …
UNMAS, The Embassy of Japan to Kenya Explosive hazards continue to have a detrimental impact on peacebuilding and state building in Somalia. Over the past years, extremist groups have used improvised explosive devices (IED) as their preferred weapon against the Read More …
An Armenian demining officer recently deployed to Syria has been seriously wounded while clearing landmines near Aleppo. According to Armenia’s Center for Humanitarian Demining and Expertise (CHDE), the sapper hit an improvised explosive device and was rushed to hospital on Read More …
The Government is providing NOK 60 million (around Rs. 1.2 billion) over a period of three years for mine action in Sri Lanka. “Sri Lanka has been heavily contaminated by landmines, but the country is now approaching its goal of Read More …
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said Tuesday that Vietnam and the United States should strengthen collaboration in bomb and mine clearance and in support for Agent Orange victims. Minh made the remarks during talks with Read More …
The 30-year-long civil conflict in Sri Lanka left many areas of the Northern and Eastern part of the country contaminated by anti-personnel mines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW). The International Meeting on Mine Action for National Directors and UN Read More …
Australia recently donated an additional USD 1.5 million to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in contributions to demining efforts in Iraqi areas that were liberated from the Islamic State. Explosives the terrorist organization planted continue to be one Read More …
A group of Armenian humanitarian experts have headed to Aleppo, Syria on Friday to provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people, Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a Facebook post. The 83-member group, including doctors, sappers, as well as Read More …
Government-led military campaigns and conflict to retake Iraq’s cities from the extremists, also known as Da’esh, displaced more than 5.8 million people between 2014 and 2017. Many are still homeless or unable to return home because of what UNMAS calls Read More …