Defense and Security Studies Commons^™

Kosovo, Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

From 1998 to 1999, an internal struggle known as the Kosovo Conflict caused Kosovo, a U.N.-administered province of Serbia, to become littered with mines and unexploded ordnance, including cluster-bomb units. Since the conflict ended, mines and UXO have claimed hundreds of victims in Kosovo. Today, very little of the original contamination remains thanks to the success of Kosovo's excellent mine-action program.

A Change Of Heart, Dahib Mohamed Odwaa

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Geedka Dheenta is a small village in Somaliland located 45 kilometres (28 miles) east of Hargeisa in a mountainous area on the road between Hargeisa and Berbera. With a population of approximately 390 inhabitants according to the Landmine Impact Survey conducted in 2003, its citizens usually go to Hargeisa (the capital of Somaliland) to sell their products. The villagers’ main income is from small irrigation farms surrounding the village where they raise fruits and vegetables such as pawpaw, oranges, greens, and tomatoes, as well as some livestock. During the civil war that broke out in Somalia in 1988, this farming …

Issue 10.2 Endnotes, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Issue 10.2 Endnotes

Industrial Ammunition Stockpile Recovery: Saving Energy And Resources And Protecting The Environment, Erik Lauritzen, Mogens Straarup, Inés García Sánchez

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

This article presents the opportunities for the disposal of ammunition in an economically and environmentally feasible way, focusing on post-conflict disposal of larger stocks of ammunition with a special view to the ongoing Ammunition Stockpile Destruction Programme in Afghanistan managed by the Afghanistan New Beginning Programme. The contents of the article are based on the experiences gathered under the umbrella of the research and development programmes Western European Armament Group European Cooperation for the Long-Term in Defence and European Union L’Instrument Financier pour L’Environnement (EU LIFE), together with a study carried out for NATO’s Maintenance and Supply Agency, followed by …

Departure Of The Devil: Landmines And Livelihoods In Yemen, Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre

Global CWD Repository

This study was commissioned by YEMAC and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) with the following objectives:

1. To assess the overall socio-economic returns from mine clearance investments

2. To make a preliminary assessment of complementary development initiatives for mine-affected communities.

3.To enhance the capacity of YEMAC to conduct future assessments of socio-economic benefits from mine action; assess the community Landmine Impact Scores as a tool for identifying impact and determining priorities for action; advise on how to design ad conduct on-going socio-economic surveys relating to ERW; advise on integrating social differentiation within LIS survey protocols, and advise …

Ddasaccident443, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

On 30 October at 10:40 hrs a PMN anti personnel mine detonated on [the Victim] deminer of party 05, section 02 of [Demining group] MCT-10 while he was working in the site. The deminer was working at squatting position with trowel on the area which was ripped by [Demining group] MDU-08 backhoe as the accident happened. Since the deminer was fully dressed with PPE, his body did not receive serious injuries just some dust interred his eyes and his left arm got a minor trauma.

Five Years Later..., St Mary's University

President's Peace Commission - Programs

The President’s Peace Commission existed from 1984 to 2013 at St. Mary's University. The Commission fostered an ethical commitment to participate in the establishment of world peace and social justice.

This program is about the war on terrorism, border security, homeland security and immigration crisis.

Ddasaccident489, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

At 0915hrs on 14 Oct 06 whilst conducting clearance using the [International demining NGO] standard excavation drill at [International demining NGO] task H/1397, deminer [the Victim] of [International demining NGO] Manual Clearance Team 47 suffered fatal injuries as a result of detonating a PMN-2 AP mine.

Ddasaccident529, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Details of this accident have been withheld by the demining NGO that employed the Victim. A spreadsheet including the Victim’s name and very brief details of the accident was made available in 2007. Some detail can be inferred from the information made available. For example, the fact that six people were injured during excavation of a small AP blast mine implies that safety distances were being ignored and field discipline was low. The main Victim also suffered head injuries that indicate that his head protection and visor were not being worn.

Ddasaccident479, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The incident occurred while raking with a heavy rake. The Team Leader was preparing the start lane of the minefield (003) when he initiated a mine via the attached anchor wire. He did this by pulling vegetation that was connected to the wire [presumably pulling with the rake]. The mine was approximately 1cm deep and set in hard baked soil. The mine was a [PRB] M-35 AP blast mine. The Victim was wearing Vest and Goggles at the time of the accident.

Uxo Risk Education Needs Assessment, Mag, Lao Youth Union

Global CWD Repository

As a result of intense ground battles and extensive bombing during the Indo-China War, especially during the years 1964 – 1973, Lao PDR has the distinction of being, per capita, the most heavily bombed nation in the world. The war left widespread unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination, which thirty years on continues to act as a barrier to socio economic development causing death and injury to adults and children. UXO injury, especially in a country such as Lao PDR where access to adequate health services is limited, can result in long-term medical and psychological sequelae (Handicap International, 2004) as well as …

Report On The Mine Clearing Rake Test, Ida, U.S. Humanitarian Demining Research And Development, Office Of The Assistant Secretary Of Defense Special Operations And Low-Intensity Conflict

Global CWD Repository

The purpose of the operational evaluation test was to assess the ability of the mine clearing rake (MCR) to enhance the effectiveness of a humanitarian demining mission. To this end, the HD PM purchased an MCR and initiated the testing process.

Operational Demining Tasks Considered for the MCR: Based on the claims made regarding the MCR's performance, three distinct HD phases were considered for assessing the MCR's capabilities. These were the area preparation, demining, and quality assurance phases. Of the three, the area preparation and demining phases were considered poor choices for the MCR since it required driving the primary …

Ddasaccident467, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred while the team were separating bulk storage boxes of fuses into serviceable and unserviceable stacks. The accident occurred in the open. Injuries to the team members occurred when a box of M6 82mm Russian Mortar fuses exploded when being moved.

Ddasaccident451, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

While Deminer was using mine detector, he found a signal, so he excavated the ground till he found a can and took it out. He checked again, still there was signal. He had started for more prodding. Suddenly the mine detonated. In result, he got injured on his right hands. Nose, lover lip, left Hand ,right Hand

Assessment Into Operational Mine/Uxo Clearance Activities In Kosovo, Vera Bohle, Phil Bean

Global CWD Repository

In detail the review team conducted a systematic review of the Task Dossiers held by the EOD Management Section to determine whether appropriate actions have been undertaken to declare Dangerous Areas (DAs) as being either cleared, cancelled, or to designate the DA as being a future clearance task. Due to the limited time of the evaluation a sample of 156 Dangerous Areas or Minefields (not counting CBU strike duplicates) included in 90 different Task Dossiers were investigated through the application of an agreed methodology. The selection of Task Dossiers did not follow coincidental or average sampling procedures, but was guided …

Master Thesis: Evaluation Of Embeddedness Of Humanitarian Mine Action Programs Funded By The Netherlands, For The Period 1996–2004, Michiel Van Bokhorst

Global CWD Repository

This research describes the evaluation of the HMA programs that are funded by the Netherlands for the period 1996–2004, specifically on their embeddedness into a broader development strategy. Embeddedness is defined as the extent in which other humanitarian objectives and programs are attached, combined or integrated with HMA programs. Embeddedness has increasingly attracted attention, because landmines and ERW are a direct threat to individuals and communities, but also indirectly by being a barrier for short-term emergency interventions and long-term development efforts. Nevertheless the Netherlands does not directly mention embeddedness of HMA in neither its HMA policy paper nor its 2003 …

7th Meeting Of The States Parties To The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (2006), Apmbc

Global CWD Repository

7th Meeting of the States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention held in Geneva, Switzerland from 18-22 September 2006,

Key Leadership Roles In The 9/11 Terrorist Attack, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Personality assessment of three al-Qaida leaders in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States – Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Mohamed Atta – provides evidence for a rudimentary model of the leadership roles required for a global-reach terrorist operation: (1) a narcissistic, charismatic leader devoid of core values beyond personal self-interest, adept at exploiting others in pursuit of his grandiose ambitions (e.g., bin Laden); (2) a strategic-thinking “true believer” without constraints of conscience regarding the level of violence he is willing to employ in his single-minded pursuit of mission (e.g., al-Zawahiri); and (3) unobtrusive, disciplined operatives …

Ddasaccident475, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

At 06:55 Hrs one of the deminers of No-3 section [the Victim] while working in lane No-7 hit a mine on the top and resulted in a mine blast and he sustained SUPERFICIAL WOUNDS IN LEFT LOWER ARM, LEFT FEMUR, LEFT SIDE OF OVERHEAD AND LEFT CHIN .

Ddasaccident547, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

On 22 August 2006 at 1105 hrs a PMN mine detonated on [the Victim] deminer of party 10, section -04 of ATC MCT-09 while he was working in the site stepped on the mine. At the same day the deminer has detected a PMN mine at 10:05 am, after marking of the mine by mine marker the deminer has continued to work and around 11:00 the same deminer detected another PMN mine as he marked this mine by a small marker. After detecting this mine the relevant section leader called him to stop operation and come out from the work …

Ddasaccident482, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Continuing his SOP drills he began to excavate the area of the source of the signal to the metal detector using the trowel issued to him for this purpose. He may not have been working to the SOP drill, as it seems likely that, because of the restricted area of work caused by the surrounding rocks, he was digging directly down to the mine, rather than digging across to the mine by excavating a small trench. An explosion occurred when the PMN antipersonnel mine, which was the source of the metal detector signal, detonated.

Ddasaccident491, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The deminer stated that the two mines that he had found earlier that day had only been 5cm deep, and that he did not expect to find another mine so close to the last one [even though the previous three had been with 2 metres of each other], or so deep; he therefore assumed that the signal was not a mine. He thinks that the mine was deeper than 10cm below the surface. He accepts that he may have exerted too much pressure whilst excavating.

Ddasaccident477, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

A [Demining group] Manual Team One, deminer hit a No.10 AP mine from the top that resulted in a mine blast. The deminer suffered no injuries. He was wearing his protective Vest and Goggles. [Photographs of both Victim and PPE showed no damage.] The tines of the heavy rake were bent.

Ddasaccident478, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

A [Demining group] Manual Team One, deminer hit a No.10 AP mine from the top that resulted in a mine blast. The deminer suffered no injuries. He was wearing his protective Vest and Goggles. [Photographs of both Victim and PPE showed no damage.] The tines of the heavy rake were bent.

Ddasaccident504, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

On 13 August 2006 at 09:45 am a UXO was detonated on Noor Agha dog-handler of MDS-04 and his dog. The dog name is Taska with ID#269. The UXO was on the ground surface. When the dog was moving for search in a lane as proceeded about 4 meters from start point to the lane realized smell of a UXO changed its direction and returned back toward the UXO. At that time the dog had passed the UXO. Since The UXO was on the ground surface and the leash of the dog was loose, the leash touched the ground surface …

Mine Action Support Group Update, Stacy Davis

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The following article highlights the recent activities of the Mine Action Support Group from the first quarterly U.N. newsletter of 2006, including updates on the United Nations Mine Action Service, the United Nations Development Programme and UNICEF.

Somaliland, Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Landmine and unexploded ordnance contamination in Somaliland is the result of the 1964 and 1977–78 border wars with Ethiopia and the 1988 –91 civil war between the Siyad Barre regime and the Somali National Movement. The Barre regime troops laid most of the landmines, using mines to threaten the civilian population and protect military installations and civilian infrastructure against SNM attacks.

Picking The Right Tool For The Right Task: Mine Clearance With The Minewolf Machine In Sudan, Christoph Frehsee

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In 2005, Norwegian People’s Aid used the mechanical mine-clearance machine MineWolf to aid in the demining process in Yei, South Sudan. The MineWolf system combines both the tiller and flail systems. The mine clearance team overcame several challenges to transport the 25-ton machine to South Sudan. Once there, the MineWolf was used to clear over 280,000 square meters (69 acres) of land, including a school complex, a planned housing complex and a teacher-training centre.

Uganda, Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Due to the insurgency of the Lord’s Resistance Army against the Ugandan government, landmines have been placed by various groups throughout the country for the past two decades. In the early 1980s both rebel groups and Ugandan government forces laid mines. Since then, there have been no allegations of government use inside Uganda, though the Lord’s Resistance Army continues to use anti-personnel mines. Though the landmine and unexploded ordnance problem is not as severe as in other parts of the continent, these remnants of war continue to injure or kill civilians as well as pose a problem for returning refugees …

Decade Of Service: The Maic Is 10!, Dennis Barlow

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The James Madison University Mine Action Information Center is celebrating 10 years of service to the mine action community. Director Dennis Barlow looks back on 10 years of accomplishments.