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British charity clears a million landmines in Iraq March 24, 2004 A British-based anti-landmine charity said on Wednesday it had cleared more than one million mines and other explosives from Iraq since the United States declared the end of major conflict there last May. The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) said 1,000,106 items - including anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, cluster bomblets, rockets and other unexploded ordnance - had been cleared and destroyed around the northern cities of Arbil, Mosul, Kirkuk and Kifri. "Every single item cleared is a life or limb saved, so a million items is a huge humanitarian achievement," said Salaam Mohammed Amin, MAG's technical field manager for the northern Iraqi region of Sulaimaniya. "We've been working flat out to try and remove the danger as quickly as possible." MAG, which has been working in Iraq since 1992, said its recent efforts had reduced the number of casualties from mine accidents in its target areas to pre-war levels. It now plans to expand its programme to other areas of the country. © 2004 Reuters Limited |
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