Solomon Islands: World War II era weapons still threatening lives and development

Last century the remote Solomon Islands was the stage for some of the most intense battles fought during the Pacific campaign of the Second World War. But while Allied troops departed on the heels of victory, the military forces of Read More …

Deadly threat of unexploded bombs in the Pacific persists 80 years on

This year is the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, but in some countries, the trail of death and destruction continues. Bombs, nearly a century old, are still exploding, killing and maiming people and contaminating land. Read More …

Cambodia, UK Sign MoU to Use Drones for Demining Efforts

The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) and the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom signed a Memorandum of Understanding on July 22 to collaborate on developing unmanned drones for mine action research and field operations—marking Read More …

Sri Lanka: Prime Minister calls landmine clearance national imperative

Even after 16 years after the guns fell silent in Sri Lanka’s civil war, the hidden danger of landmines still lingers across the Northern and Eastern provinces. Speaking at a Donor Coordination and Appreciation Ceremony in Colombo yesterday, Prime Minister Read More …

Azerbaijan: 6,365 hectares cleared of mines and UXOs over past month

Azerbaijan’s Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) has announced that 6,365.7 hectares of land were cleared of mines and unexploded ordnances (UXOs) in April. According to the agency, mine clearance operations were conducted in the districts of Tartar, Aghdara, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Khojaly, Read More …

Vietnam: Silently, officers and soldiers of the Engineer Corps in mine clearance

In today’s peacetime, there are still silent wars within silence, dangers within dangers and hardships of the Engineer soldiers. That is the war in searching for bombs, mines, and explosives left over from the war . At the border of Read More …

Azerbaijani sappers neutralize over 10,000 explosives in March

The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) has released its monthly report on demining operations conducted in the territories liberated from Armenian occupation. A total of 331 anti-personnel mines, 105 anti-tank mines, and 9,755 unexploded ordnance (UXO) were detected Read More …

Estonia: Over 800 Tsarist-era explosives found in Põhja-Tallinn

Hundreds of Tsarist-era munitions were found in Lahesuu Harbor in Põhja-Tallinn last week during construction work. Demolition experts from the Rescue Board were called to the harbor last Tuesday after 880 explosive devices were discovered. The munitions were naval ordnance Read More …

€5m German boost for HALO landmine clearance in Syria

HALO’s programme will expand to save lives across the country in response to soaring accidents caused by explosives The German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) supports the HALO Trust in Syria with a €5M grant to boost vital mine clearance efforts Read More …

Battle continues in Solomon Islands against UXOs eight decades after WWII

More than 80 years since the Battle of Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands, communities today are still grappling with the unexploded devices left behind. The major battle in World War Two resulted in thousands of unexploded and abandoned ordnaces (UXOs/AXOs) that Read More …

Syria: Mine casualties persist as UN partners scale up clearance operations

“Mine action partners continue to report casualties due to explosive ordnance, and that is happening sadly on an almost daily basis,” Mr. Dujarric explained in a press briefing on Monday in New York. Farmers and shepherds are particularly vulnerable. Since Read More …

Syria: Explosive remnants of civil war pose a daunting challenge

Almost 14 years of civil war contaminated swathes of the Syrian Arab Republic with roughly 324,600 unexploded rockets and bombs and thousands of landmines, according to a 2023 estimate by the US-based Carter Center. In the last four years alone, Read More …

OCHA: Syria ordnance contamination

After 13 years of conflict, explosive ordnance contamination remains a challenge in Syria. Approximately a third of communities across Syria reportedly face grave risk of injury and trauma by some form of explosive contamination. Demining efforts are underway with the Read More …

Ukraine mines could exceed 1 million, says UN expert

United Nations mine experts working on the ground in Ukraine have told CGTN that the number of unexploded devices in the country could be in excess of 1 million. CGTN has spoken to Alexander Lobov, a military engineer and mine Read More …

Ukraine: Mine safety will become a mandatory addition to the school course on Health, Safety and Welfare

Ukraine is among the countries most contaminated by mines: approximately 30% of its territory is potentially dangerous due to explosive objects. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine confirmed that between 24 February 2022 and 30 July 2023, landmines Read More …

‘Iron harvest:’ A Belgian team unearths unexploded ammunition from WWI

In a muddy field in Flanders, in northern Belgium, there are signs of a recent harvest along its edge — raw potatoes here and there. But toward the back of the field, members of DOVO, the Belgian military’s bomb disposal Read More …

DR Congo: Nine killed in North Kivu bomb blast

At least nine people have been killed and 16 injured after an explosive device accidentally detonated in a field in conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources said on Thursday. The blast occurred on Wednesday evening in Lubwe Sud in Read More …

Ukraine: Agencies join forces with deminers to reclaim agricultural land

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have designed a new joint programme for smallholder farmers and rural families most affected by the conflict. The goal is to clear farmland impacted by the fighting of Read More …

Over 27,000 explosives removed from Libyan cities in 2022

According to the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), 27,400 explosive war remnants were removed from the Libyan cities of Tripoli, Misrata, Benghazi and Sirte in 2022. More than 1 million war remnants, which include 82 percent of projectiles Read More …

Victims of Yemen’s tragic proxy war deserve justice now there is genuine hope for peace

For the first time in more than eight years of war, there are real and concrete signs of peace. But as a Sky News team has discovered on the ground, this is a country broken by thousands of bombs, mines Read More …