From the Reuters Alertnet blog, Sean Moorehouse writes about the work of Mines Advisory Group in Iraq:
We were visiting the almost-vertical Qalat minefield, part of a minebelt that meanders for tens of miles across the harsh terrain of the Kurdish mountains.
Why, I wondered, did MAG choose to clear Qalat, instead of any of the countless other bits.
Fkry and I continued our inspection of the perimeter of the minefield, which was marked by a line of red-painted sticks, about 30cm (12 inches) high, running vertically up the hillside. A 2-metre (2.2 yards) wide path had been hacked out alongside them, to give the deminers access to their working lanes.
Just as importantly, the path allowed for casualty evacuation in the event of a mine accident. An ambulance stood waiting at the other side of the minefield and stretchers were dotted about in strategic locations. The highly trained medic tried to keep himself motivated, but it wasn't easy to sit around for seven hours a day hoping to have nothing to do.
HANOI -- A couple and their three-year-old child were killed when an ammunition shell exploded in Vietnam's central Quang Nam Province, according to local newspaper Youth on Wednesday.
The explosion occurred at the victims' house in Duy Xuyen District on Tuesday afternoon when the 31-year-old man named Pham Van Thang was trying to break the shell for scraps. His wife, standing nearby, and the child held in her arms were killed on the spot.
According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund of the United States, during the Vietnam War from 1965-1975, the US Armed Forces deployed more than 15 million tons of bombs, mines, artillery shells and other ordnance in the country, in which 10 percent did not detonate as designed.
Local scrap collectors often saw of unexploded ordnance (UXO) for metal and explosive, while small children play ammunitions by breaking them, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries annually.
Now, there are over 300,000 tons of UXO in Vietnam, estimated local officials
So many people come to our site to learn how to clear landmines, that it seems many of you may be interested in how landmines work.
The below is an excerpt from a great article by Kevin Bonsor for the website Howstuffworks.com:
Mines are often laid in groups, called mine fields, and are designed to prevent the enemy from passing through a certain area, or sometimes to force an enemy through a particular area. An army also will use landmines to slow an enemy until reinforcements can arrive. While more than 350 varieties of mines exist, they can be broken into two categories:
Anti-personnel (AP) mines
Anti-tank (AT) mines
The basic function of both of these types of landmines is the same, but there are a couple of key differences between them. Anti-tank mines are typically larger and contain several times more explosive material than anti-personnel mines. There is enough explosive in an anti-tank mine to destroy a tank or truck, as well as kill people in or around the vehicle. Additionally, more pressure is usually required for an anti-tank mine to detonate. Most of these mines are found on roads, bridges and large clearances where tanks may travel.
...
Landmine detection is a slow, methodical process due to the danger involved in locating landmines. While location technology is improving, the following conventional techniques are still relied on heavily:
Probing the ground - For many years, the most sophisticated technology used for locating landmines was probing the ground with a stick or bayonet. Soldiers are trained to poke the ground lightly with a bayonet, knowing that just one mistake may cost them their lives.
Trained dogs - Dogs can be trained to sniff out vapors coming from the explosive ingredients inside the landmine.
Metal detectors - Metal detectors are limited in their ability to find mines, because many mines are made of plastic with only a tiny bit of metal.
The below is an excerpt from a very well-written and researched piece by Brady Delander who interviewed Martha, Imbert and me. He would have talked to Kristen too, but she is pretty busy over in Afghanistan at the moment!
Thanks, Brady!!
CPI: Clearing the Way for a Safer Future
By Brady Delander
Will and determination help expand worldly mission of Clear Path International.
James Hathaway was late for his flight�"of course," he says�when he saw his opportunity. Imbert Matthee was deep in the jungles of Vietnam when the purpose of his efforts crystallized. Such is the world of humanitarianism. Anything can happen at anytime? it usually does.
Hathaway and Matthee, along with Martha Hathaway and Kristen Leadem, are the co-founders of Clear Path International (CPI), an organization established in 2000 originally dedicated to the removal of unexploded ordnance�landmines, clusters bombs, etc.�in war-torn locations around the globe that now focuses on helping the victims of such explosions. "There is certainly no shortage of work," says Martha Hathaway, CPI's executive director and co-founder.
The bulk of that work is deadly serious. With programs in Vietnam, Cambodia, along the Thai-Burma border, and now Afghanistan, the realities of war�even wars that ended more than 30 years ago�could not be any more dramatic. Dealing with the everyday horror can be overwhelming, but Matthee recalls a moment that makes even the most trying days seem worthwhile.
