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:
- UK: Riot police attacked by ‘hostile’ crowd in Auchinleck
November 26, 2023
Riot police officers came under attack from a “hostile” crowd during large-scale disorder in an East Ayrshire village. One officer had to be taken to hospital for treatment after being hit by a firework as trouble flared in Auchinleck on Saturday evening. Footage on social media showed officers in helmets and carrying riot shields as they ...
- Northern Ireland: Viable device found during security alert in Dungiven
November 25, 2023
A viable device has been discovered during a security alert in County Londonderry, police have said. The alert happened in the Ballyquin Road area of Dungiven on Friday afternoon. Officers attended the scene and cordons were put in place following a report of a suspicious object. Ammunition Technical Officers (ATO) examined the object and declared it ...
- UK: Man sentenced for possessing an explosive substance – High Wycombe
November 23, 2023
Following an investigation by Thames Valley Police, a man has been sentenced for possessing an explosive substance in High Wycombe. At Aylesbury Crown Court yesterday (22/11), Jack Coleman, aged 19, of Amersham Hill, High Wycombe, was sentenced to a hospital order. The court also made a forfeiture and destruction order for bomb making equipment and a ...
- Ireland: 34 people arrested after riotous mob causes huge destruction
November 23, 2023
A clean-up is under way in Dublin city centre this morning following violent clashes between large groups of people and gardaí in Dublin last night. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said 34 people had been arrested and “many more arrests will follow”. Mr Harris said a riotous mob had caused huge destruction in Dublin, including 13 shops ...
- Polish police arrest woman with Islamic extremist sympathies who planted explosive device in Warsaw
November 21, 2023
Polish authorities say that they have arrested and pressed charges against a 38-year-old Polish woman with Islamic extremist sympathies who planted an explosive device on a street in central Warsaw earlier this month. There were no injuries. Police said in a statement published on Monday that the woman placed the device in Warsaw on the night ...
- UK: Thieves use ‘explosive device’ in attempt to steal money from cash machine in Sale
November 20, 2023
Bomb disposal experts scrambled to the scene of an attempted robbery in Sale after police believe suspects used an ‘explosive device’ to target a cash machine. The incident happened on Hereford Street at around 2.50am on Monday 20 November. Police, fire crews and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team were called to the scene, with a ...
- Japan supplies mine clearance equipment to Ukraine
November 20, 2023
Units of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine have received mine clearance equipment from Japan, including special vehicles and mine detectors. The aid package includes 40 special vehicles, 50 hand-held mine detectors, as well as containers and fire extinguishing liquid. Klymenko said that this equipment will speed up the humanitarian mine clearance process and make it ...
- Ireland: Residents evacuated as historical device removed from Dublin suburb
November 19, 2023
A discovery led to a number of premises being evacuated yesterday afternoon. Gardaí put a cordon in place after they were alerted to a suspicious device found in Clontarf, a coastal suburb around 5 km from the city centre. Members of the Irish Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) have since removed the device from the scene ...
- Germany: WWII grenade found near presidential palace detonated
November 17, 2023
A World War II grenade found at a garden near the German presidential palace was safely detonated, local media reported on Friday. The old tank grenade was found in the morning hours during a construction work in a green area of Bellevue Palace, and it was detonated by specialists in controlled explosion, public broadcaster RBB said. ...
- 500,000 mines strategically placed along Ukraine’s northern border
November 17, 2023
The areas of Ukraine that border the Russian Federation, including Kyiv, Volyn, Rivne, and Zhytomyr, have been mined with a total of 500,000 mines Colonel Vladyslav Seleznov, former head of the press service of the Ukrainian General Staff, revealed this in an interview with TSN. He clarifies that a significant number of mines were strategically placed ...
- Can robot dogs programmed with AI find hidden explosive devices?
November 16, 2023
Forty programmers demonstrated how AI-enabled robotic dogs could carry out potentially dangerous tasks that would otherwise be undertaken by Army bomb disposal experts at the Defence AI Centre (DAIC) sponsored Hackathon on 7-9 November. The hackers worked in five teams to exploit the AI capabilities of the robotic dogs, which are able to climb stairs, avoid ...
- German police swoop on Hezbollah-supporting ‘extremists’
November 15, 2023
Several hundred German police officers carried out searches across the country on Thursday targeting an Islamist association suspected of supporting the Iran-aligned Islamist movement Hezbollah, the Interior Ministry announced. The police operation targeted the Islamic Centre of Hamburg (IZH) and five other organisations suspected of being linked to it. All are suspected of supporting Hezbollah, which ...
- Landmines: New Use Despite Global Ban
November 14, 2023
Russia, Myanmar, and Ukraine have used antipersonnel landmines in the past year, and armed groups used them in at least five countries, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing Landmine Monitor 2023, the annual report about the international treaty to ban landmines. The 120-page Landmine Monitor 2023 is the product of the International Campaign to Ban ...
- UK: Friend of ‘IS Beatle’ jailed for terrorism offences
November 13, 2023
A British man who spent two years with Islamic State in Syria and knew the British militant dubbed Jihadi John, has been jailed for carrying a weapon for terrorist purposes. Aine Davis was also sentenced at the Old Bailey for fundraising after he tried to get his wife to send him 20,000 euros (£17,460). Intelligence services ...
- Northern Ireland: Police investigating after pipe bomb thrown at property in Newry
November 13, 2023
Police are investigating after a pipe bomb was thrown at a property in the Watsons Road area of Newry on Sunday night. The incident happened at 7.20pm on Sunday night and the device has now been removed for further forensic examination. Police said the security alert that was in place has now ended. No injuries were ...