News – November 2024

November 29, 2024

Over 600 participants from 105 countries have convened in Siem Reap for a summit focused on the global campaign to clear landmines. With over 5,000 victims annually and 33 nations still facing landmine hazards, the summit calls for increased international cooperation and resources to protect future generations from the explosive remnants of war. On Wednesday, Ly ...

November 29, 2024

This guide is intended to advance the clearance of landmines from border areas when there is political will to do so. More specifically, it is meant inform affected states, as well as donor states, of some of the various approaches and frameworks for planning and implementing cross-border or near-border demining activities. It also identifies some of ...

November 28, 2024

Bomb disposal experts from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) have discovered wreckage from a Russian Kh-55 cruise missile in one of Kyiv’s districts. Emergency workers note that although wreckage did not pose a direct threat to the population, it could have become dangerous without prompt intervention. “We remind all citizens: If you see a suspicious object, ...

November 28, 2024

Attacks using improvised explosive devices are among the deadliest. They require flexible responses that match terror groups’ changing tactics. Insurgents are increasingly using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Benin to hamper the mobility and responsiveness of the country’s defence and security forces. IEDs are also being used in neighbouring Togo. Terror attacks have spiked in northern ...

November 25, 2024

CFB BORDEN — The Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot (CFAD) Angus will be hosting Exercise Cunning Pine, an annual explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) training exercise at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden from Nov. 26 to Nov. 28, 2024. This important training will include two key components: Live Demolitions at Castle EOD Range Residents near CFB Borden may ...

November 25, 2024

Abbas Ibrahim Gurey, the commander of Jubbaland’s Dervish forces, survived an assassination attempt on Monday when a landmine detonated near the Somali-Kenyan border, according to local reports. The explosion, which occurred in the Gedo region, caused significant damage to Gurey’s vehicle but left him and his companions unharmed. Gurey, who heads the local security forces in ...

November 24, 2024

A senior officer in the British Army has been charged after allegedly taking a decommissioned hand grenade through Scotland’s busiest airport. Lt Col Hugo Clark, 54 is accused of taking a deactivated explosive through security at Edinburgh Airport on 16 October. A bomb squad was called to the scene and the item, a dummy grenade used ...

November 22, 2024

The First Vice-President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) and president of the Ottawa Convention for 2024 Ly Thuch reaffirmed his commitment to continuing communication with relevant parties and assisting in mine clearance efforts in Myanmar, regardless of political, religious, or economic status. During a press conference at the CMAA office of ...

November 22, 2024

The Japanese government has donated critical equipment to Somalia’s Police Force Mine Action Unit, to strengthen its capacity to detect and neutralize explosive devices in the country. Somali Police Chief Brigadier General Asad Osman Abdullahi received the equipment during a ceremony in Mogadishu on Thursday. He thanked Japan for its support, describing the donation as vital ...

November 21, 2024

In Ukraine, it’s not just the frontline that’s a minefield. The decision of the United States to offer landmines to Ukraine, a signatory of the landmine ban treaty, creates as much of a diplomatic minefield as a military one. Landmines are different from other weapons that have lethal effects at the moment of their use. In ...

November 20, 2024

US President Joe Biden has approved providing antipersonnel land mines to Ukraine in what has been seen as another policy reversal on weapons provided to Kyiv by the outgoing United States administration, according to reports. The US expects Ukraine to use the land mines in its own territory, though it has committed not to use them ...

November 20, 2024

Just before 9 a.m. Tuesday, workers cleaning out the Putah Creek Canal between Martin Road and Hilborn Road located what appeared to be a smoke grenade and fragmentary grenade. Officers responded to the scene and called Travis Air Force Base’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal team to assist. EOD arrived and determined that although the smoke grenade was ...

November 19, 2024

Senior Minister Ly Thuch, first vice-president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), held talks with Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung to strengthen bilateral cooperation on mine action and reaffirm commitments to peace-building efforts. The meeting, which included Cambodian ambassador to Vietnam Chea Kimtha and Juan Carlos Ruan, director of ...

November 18, 2024

In Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region, a civilian vehicle triggered a landmine, resulting in the death of three individuals and leaving another wounded, local officials reported Monday. According to the local administration’s statement, the incident unfolded in the Doonka region, on the road between the districts of Wanlaweyn and Afgooye, as the vehicle traveled from Afgooye. The ...

November 17, 2024

Two unexploded World War II aircraft bombs were safely neutralized overnight from Saturday to Sunday near Moordrecht in South Holland, the municipality of Zuidplas reported. The first bomb was rendered safe at approximately 2:15 a.m. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service (EOD) first removed the detonator, followed by the percussion cap a few minutes later. The initial ...

November 16, 2024

Ministry of Interior’s Bomb Squad announced on Saturday that it had successfully neutralized 27 war remnants in Diyala province. In a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the ministry said that IED technicians in the Kusayrin area of Diyala managed to dismantle 27 war remnants, including C4 explosives, hand grenades, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), ...

November 15, 2024

Shama (Lebanon), 15 November 2024 – This afternoon, a 155mm live artillery shell hit UNP 2-3, UNIFIL West Sector headquarters in Shama. The shell did not detonate and Italian bomb disposal experts swiftly secured the area, removed the ordnance, and conducted a controlled detonation. There was no injury among peacekeepers, but only minor damages to the ...

November 15, 2024

The United States Embassy in Cameroon announces the completion of an IED Threats and Awareness course on November 4-8, 2024, in Yaoundé. This training is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the Government of Cameroon. This initiative marks a milestone in the ...

November 15, 2024

The newly appointed Ambassador of Japan to Ukraine, Masashi Nakagome, discussed humanitarian demining with the leadership of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. Representatives from the Japanese Embassy delegation arrived at the Mine Action Office of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, where they met with the leadership of the agency and discussed the prospects of ...

November 15, 2024

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – The 9th Civil Engineer Squadron’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight will perform a routine munition disposal on Range C-62 Nov. 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Residents in the Mossy Head and the north side of Niceville areas may hear a detonation during this time. The EOD flight performs munitions ...

November 13, 2024

The Borno State police command on Tuesday inaugurated an Explosive Ordnance Disposal training school in Borno State. Speaking during the ceremony in Maiduguri, the Commissioner of Police, who was represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Bello, said the facility, being the first in the region, would aid in training officers in handling explosives and ...

November 13, 2024

Japanese ordnance disposal experts plan to defuse two suspected World War II-era bombs found last month on Miyakojima, a popular tourist spot 170 miles southwest of Okinawa. Soldiers with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit expect to defuse the 551-pound bombs on Nov. 29, a spokesman for the Miyakojima city Disaster Prevention ...

November 13, 2024

Engineer forces of Vietnam and India have coordinated together to practice clearing mines and explosives, ensuring safety for United Nations peacekeeping forces. This is the main content of the exercise situation that the engineering forces of Vietnam and India have just organized training and demonstration. This content is within the framework of the Vietnam-India Bilateral Exercise ...

November 12, 2024

In the rugged and scenic mountains of remote villages in Laos, children and farmers contend with a legacy of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) threatening their lives for over 40 years. These leftover war remnants from the horrific Vietnam War have become an occupational hazard as well as a threat to the lives of innocent local ...