Scorched landscapes across Europe have exposed a potentially lethal threat lurking underground.
Rusted bombs and mines from the First and Second World Wars are now endangering emergency crews responding to wildfires across the continent.
High heat has caused several weapons to explode in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. In the Dutch province of Limburg, a bomb disposal team was called out to inspect woodland near the site of heavy 1944 combat threatened by flames.
Read more…
Source: Independent
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Borrell announces provision of EUR 25 mln to Ukraine for mine clearance of territories
February 3, 2023
Head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced in Kyiv on Friday “on the sidelines” of the EU-Ukraine summit on the allocation of EUR 25 million for the clearance of territories under Ukrainian control, the European Union External Action Service (EEAS) has reported. “We will provide up to EUR 25 million to support demining efforts in these ...
- Sweden: Blast outside nightclub in central Gothenburg
February 3, 2023
A glass door was damaged, spreading glass splinters, police press spokesperson Fredrik Svedemyr told TT newswire. “Other than that, I haven’t received any information that there has been any worse damage,” he said. Sweden’s gang criminals have in recent years been using explosives stolen from building sites or purchased illegally, and sometimes hand grenades, to target ...
- Lithuanian, Czech chiefs of defense agree on further cooperation
February 2, 2023
Lithuania’s Chief of Defense Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupsys and Major General Karel Rehka, Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, have agreed on further cooperation, the Lithuanian military said on Tuesday. “We agreed to expand military cooperation in the field of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear security) by participating in collective level ...
- Ukraine: Banned Landmines Harm Civilians
January 31, 2023
Ukraine should investigate its military’s apparent use of thousands of rocket-fired antipersonnel landmines in and around the eastern city of Izium when Russian forces occupied the area, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch documented numerous cases in which rockets carrying PFM antipersonnel mines, also called “butterfly mines” or “petal mines,” were fired into Russian-occupied ...
- Italy on alert as anarchists attack diplomatic missions
January 31, 2023
Italy’s government has increased security at its diplomatic missions around the globe in response to “a crescendo of terroristic attacks” by an informal anarchist network acting in solidarity with an imprisoned Italian militant, the foreign minister said Tuesday. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani cited nearly a dozen attacks since the end of November, ranging from vandalism to ...
- Human Rights Watch urges investigation of alleged use of land mines by Ukraine
January 31, 2023
A human rights group says it has documented “numerous cases” of Ukrainian forces firing land mines into territory that was controlled at the time by Russia. In a new report, Human Rights Watch suggests that Ukraine scattered so-called petal mines in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium. Petal mines are prohibited under the 1997 ...
- Cyprus: Arrest over illegal explosives
January 30, 2023
Police in Famagusta on Monday arrested a 23-year-old man for illegal explosives possession. They had obtained a warrant to search the suspect’s home, where they found 14 commercial and five homemade firecrackers, three bundles of fuse, gunpowder and various instruments needed to manufacture explosives. Read more… Source: Cyprus Mail
- Walls, Mines and Motivated Men: Ukraine’s Border With Belarus
January 27, 2023
The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are currently bracing themselves for any potential Russian offensive, with Belarusian troops, all along Ukraine’s northwestern border, a heavily forested area full of forbidding wetlands, as well as the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Among the many interesting things to see was the wall being built in the north, along the border. ...
- Cyprus: Syrian man sentenced over electronic training activity for possible terrorism-related crimes
January 26, 2023
A Limassol district court has sentenced a 26-year-old Syrian man to two years in prison in connection with electronic training activity for possible terrorism-related crimes. The defendant had been remanded in the island’s Central Prison since July 2021, Philenews reported on Thursday citing insiders. Read more… Source: In Cyprus
- Spain: Elderly man arrested over high-profile letter bomb attacks
January 25, 2023
Spanish police have arrested a 74-year-old man on suspicion of sending letter bombs to high-profile targets, including the country’s prime minister. The man was reportedly taken into custody in the town of Miranda de Ebro the north of Spain and is due to appear in court later this week. Read more… Source: BBC News
- Belgium: Over 120 kg of explosives used in Brussels attacks, court learns
January 24, 2023
The Brussels Court of Assizes, which is currently presiding over the trial of suspects involved in the Brussels terror attacks at the Maelbeek metro station and Zaventem Airport, listened to the testimony of an expert who was able to trace the equipment used by the IS militants in their 2016 attack. The investigators revealed the detailed ...
- UK: WW2 explosive found under empty house at Isleham Marina
January 24, 2023
The unexploded mortar round was found under a vacant property at the Isleham Marina. Officers were on scene by 1.15pm the same day and soon had an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from Colchester on location to remove it. Read more… Source: ELYSTANDARD
- UK Government targets bomb making materials and poisons in new crackdown
January 23, 2023
Today (23 January 2023) the government has laid secondary legislation to further tighten controls for poisons and chemicals which can be used to make explosives, also known as ‘explosives precursors’, by updating the Poisons Act 1972. Following the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, the government committed to enhancing its capabilities to detect terrorist activity including that ...
- Cambodia, Japan provide tech training for Ukrainian deminers
January 23, 2023
Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said his government will continue contributing to the reconstruction of Ukraine through demining cooperation with Cambodia and other countries. Hayashi made the remarks as the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) held a January 20 closing ceremony for a weeklong mine clearance technology training course for Ukrainian officers. The training, which began ...
- Ukraine: Landmine explosion injures 4, including baby, in Mykolaiv Oblast
January 21, 2023
Hanna Zamazieieva, head of the Mykolaiv Oblast Council, reported on Jan. 21 that a car hit a landmine in the village of Liubomyrivka in Mykolaiv Oblast. According to her, four people were injured, including a three-week-old baby. She urged residents to be cautious. According to Ukraine’s Reintegration Ministry, Mykolaiv Oblast is one of the most explosive-contaminated ...