News – July 2023

  • Türkiye discovers unexploded artillery shells in Black Sea

    July 31, 2023

    Türkiye’s Naval Forces Command detected at least 28 unexploded artillery shells in the Black Sea, local authorities in Istanbul said Monday. Investigations conducted by the underwater defense forces revealed that the objects were unexploded artillery shells, the governor’s office said in a statement. Read more… Source: Daily Sabah  

  • NGO takes heat as Israeli border town imperiled by landmine clearance efforts in Lebanon

    July 30, 2023

    The civilian population residing in the farming settlement of Metula, situated near the Lebanon border, continues to suffer from property damage and threats to their lives and safety due to unchecked mine clearance efforts on the other side of the border. Mines Advisory Group Co. (MAG), an NGO that provides humanitarian assistance to people affected by ...

  • KOICA applauds progress in Cambodia’s mine clearance

    July 29, 2023

    The success story of the mine clearance project, a collaboration between Cambodia and South Korea, was given high praise recently, as significant strides have been made in alleviating mine threats in the Kingdom. Senior minister Ly Thuch, who also serves as first vice-president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), held a ...

  • UK: Evacuation after man takes WW2 explosive home

    July 28, 2023

    Several residential streets were evacuated after a man told the police about a suspected World War Two bomb he had brought home to his garden. Rob Parkin, from Rachub, Gwynedd, discovered what he thought was a mortar at a quarry 20 years earlier “and stupidly brought it home”. “It crossed my mind occasionally that maybe there ...

  • Philippines: World War II bomb found in Cadiz

    July 28, 2023

    A 1,000-pound vintage bomb was unearthed at a quarry site in Purok Lambunao, Barangay Magsaysay, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental. Rolly Pelongco was digging using a backhoe past 11 p.m. on Monday when he accidentally discovered the munition, according to the Cadiz City police. He immediately contacted the authorities, and an Explosive and Ordnance Disposal (EOD) ...

  • MAG statement on the indiscriminate use of weapons and the erosion of the principle of humanity

    July 28, 2023

    Every day, in the course of our humanitarian mine action operations, MAG sees the widespread, enduring and devastating impact of explosive weapons. The 1997 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, of which MAG was a founding member, for its work in bringing about the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC). The ...

  • UK: Controlled explosion of WW2 bomb found on seabed

    July 27, 2023

    A controlled explosion has been carried out by Royal Navy divers off the north coast of Guernsey. Police said what was thought to be “an airdropped weapon” from World War Two was detonated at 10:15 BST. It said the device was discovered by a local diver. The navy identified it as a German-made SC500 bomb. The ...

  • Ukraine’s allies commit $244 million for humanitarian mine clearance

    July 26, 2023

    Ukraine’s allies have committed to allocating $244 million and providing special equipment for the purpose of humanitarian mine clearance, First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Tuesday. “Our task is not only to demine the entire territory in order to save people’s lives, but also to speed up this process,” Svyrydenko, who is also economy ...

  • UN begins pumping oil from decaying tanker off Yemen

    July 25, 2023

    “The United Nations has begun an operation to defuse what might be the world’s largest ticking time bomb,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. “A complex maritime salvage effort is now underway in the Red Sea off the coast of war-torn Yemen to transfer one million barrels of oil from the decaying FSO ...

  • Italy: Defusing operation of the WWII device in Chivasso has been completed

    July 23, 2023

    The operation to defuse the Second World War war device that had been found in recent days in via Curie has been successfully completed (and ahead of schedule). The operation concluded around 8 a.m. The intervention, which began at dawn, was completed around 8 am by the EOD officers of the XXXII Regiment of the Engineers ...

  • How controversial cluster munitions give Ukraine needed punch during counteroffensive

    July 23, 2023

    Ukraine has begun using American cluster munitions in the field and is doing so effectively, according to the White House. “They are using them appropriately,” National Security Spokesman John Kirby said on July 21. “They’re using them effectively, and they are actually having an impact on Russia’s defensive formations and Russia’s defensive maneuvering. I think ...

  • Afghans haunted by US cluster bomb attacks more than 20 years ago

    July 22, 2023

    Sitting in the corner of her shabby house in west Afghanistan’s Herat province, Bibi Jan still remembers the horrific day in 2001 when the US forces brutally dropped cluster bombs on the poor village, leaving scores dead or injured. “It was 2:30 pm of the day, second Aqrab (Oct 24 on the Persian calendar), oh God ...