News – January 2024

January 31, 2024

The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and an inter-ministerial task force organised a public forum ahead of operations to recover unexploded ordnance (UXOs) and shipwrecks from the Mekong River in Prey Veng province. Addressing the forum, CMAC director-general Heng Ratana explained how the recovery and clearance of explosive remnants of war (ERW) and the removal of ...

January 28, 2024

An unexploded bomb, model FAB-250, considered “rare and highly powerful”, was destroyed in the town of Lushivi, 103 kilometers south of Luena, eastern Moxico province, by the Mining Advisory Group (MAG). Capable of destroying an area of 250 square meters, the artefact, weighing more than 100 kilograms, was recently discovered by a farmer in that town ...

January 22, 2024

Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, met with delegates from 5 African countries to discuss demining cooperation. The meeting was held at the CMAC headquarters in Phnom Penh on Monday. The delegates consisted of Mike Rashid Fulla Obaldo, Director General of the National Mine Action Authority of South Sudan, Dahir Abdirahman Abdull, Director ...

January 22, 2024

The PSNI said it received a report of a suspicious object found in the Woodlawn Heights area of the Co Armagh village at around 7.45pm on Sunday evening. Local officers held the scene overnight until Army bomb disposal experts attended the scene this morning. Following examination, it was confirmed that the object was an unexploded World ...

January 21, 2024

There are currently 3,500 sappers working in Ukraine, but this is an insufficient number for rapidly clearing mine-contaminated territories. Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravainyi, who coordinates humanitarian demining efforts, noted this in an interview with Ukrinform. “It’s 3,500 sappers, according to the latest data. But imagine, 3,500 people who know how to neutralize mines seems ...

January 21, 2024

A landmine explosion in Aghdam district has resulted in injury of one person. On January 21 at about 13:30 the Aghdam district police were informed about a mine explosion. A resident of Aghjabadi district Faig Sayyad (born in 1980) was injured. The citizen was evacuated to the hospital by police officers Read more… Source:  Azernews  

January 20, 2024

The Massachusetts State Police department have welcomed two new rookies to the bomb squad, Trapper and Otto. The pair will begin Explosive Detection Canine Class where they will learn how to detect scents associated with explosive materials. Once they are fully trained they will partner up with two members of the bomb squad. Read more… Source: CBS News  

January 19, 2024

According to a report released on January 18 by the Ngoc Hien District People’s Committee, Nguyen Ngoc Tu, 42, found a bomb left from the American War in the Cua Lon River several days ago. He brought it home, intending to cut it to take scrap metal but was prevented by his family members due ...

January 18, 2024

China is the foremost foreign financial supporter of the mine action sector in Cambodia, according to the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC). Their contribution places China at the top of the list, followed by Japan, the US and other countries. Heng Ratana, director-general of CMAC, also highlighted the significant role of the Cambodian government, which stands ...

January 16, 2024

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. – The U.S. Navy will conduct Snow Crab Exercise 2024 (SNOWCRABEX 24-1) at Camp Ripley Training Center in Little Falls, Minnesota, Jan. 22 to Feb. 5 to exercise expeditionary Sailors’ abilities to operate in complex and austere environments. Media are invited to attend a media day and demonstration on Jan. 26. The demonstration ...

January 15, 2024

The Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) route search explosive devices team under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) has neutralised Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Somalia. The development follows the planting of the IEDs by the al-Shabaab militants along the same route where some exploded hitting a civilian vehicle with five occupants. The Army ...

January 12, 2024

A World War Two mine capable of holding between 500 and 1,000kg of high explosive has been pulled up by the nets of a Cornish fishing vessel. The drama took place in Looe on Thursday 11 January. The device was safely detonated on Friday 12 January. Looe police have now shared details of the incident that ...

January 3, 2024

A Scottish clearance diver has been awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year Honours. Leading Seaman (Diver) Rory Cartwright-Taylor is part of the Royal Navy’s Diving & Threat Exploitation Group (DTXG), based at Faslane on Scotland’s west coast. The DTXG consists of small, specialist mission teams that carry out tasks ranging from explosive disposal of ...

January 2, 2024

In December 2023, the demining units of the State Special Transport Service were able to neutralize 6,171 explosive devices in Ukraine. This constitutes a significant portion of the total number of mines, shells, and other explosive devices laid since the beginning of the large-scale invasion by the Russian Federation. According to data from the State Special ...

January 2, 2024

BEIJING, Jan. 2 — The 52 members of the 22nd Chinese Peacekeeping Troops to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) passed the mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) quality assessment conducted by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) recently. The evaluation was carried out at a mine clearance training ground in the ...

January 1, 2024

The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) held a two-day workshop on December 27-28 to summarise the results of its work in 2023 and outline its working direction for 2024. The conference, held in Kep province, also saw representatives of development partners. CMAA second vice-president Sem Sovanny addressed the opening of the event, saying ...