China donates mine-clearance equipment, vehicles to Cambodia

China donated mine-clearance equipment, vans, and motorcycles to the Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA) on Monday. The donation included mine detectors, demining personal protective equipment outfits and helmets, exploding initiators, vans, and motorcycles, among others. Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Read More …

Angola pledges $60m to fund landmine clearance in national parks

The Angolan government has pledged $60 million to clear landmines in two national parks that form part of southern Africa’s highly biodiverse Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. The country’s environment minister, Paula Coelho, made the announcement June 17 at a conference Read More …

Canine hero visits Capitol Hill amid ‘global landmine crisis’

Spotted roaming the halls of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday was a six-year veteran of one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Yankee, a land mine-detecting German shepherd, along with her handler, Perry Baltimore, a retired Army general, joined Yemen’s Read More …

Support from the Government of Germany Proves Crucial in Continuing UNMAS Life-Saving Activities in Iraq

With a total contribution of EUR 51.2 million (USD 58 million) to date, the Government of Germany is the largest contributor to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq and supports explosive hazard management and capacity enhancement initiatives Read More …

Explosive hazards in Mosul a major threat for years to come

The classroom of 13-year-old boys was vibrant, filled with energy, as the final lesson of the day began, addressing a serious topic. One of the guest instructors held up posters of various suspicious objects. Some were more obviously mortars or hand grenades, Read More …

Mines, unexploded devices continuing to kill, maim civilians in Afghanistan

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 …

Huntsville Center’s Global Operations Division saves lives with range cleanup mission in Afghanistan

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 …

United Nations in Libya Marks the “International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action”

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 …

Removing deadly mines means ‘new horizons and hope’, clears a path to SDGs, says UN chief

  “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 …

Clearing landmines in Ukraine, one careful step at a time

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: Safe ground, safe home as UN Mine Action Service clears the way for peace-driven returnees

“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 …

One bomb at a time: life in the throes of Pakistan’s Taliban

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 …