UN commander warns of mines in southern Sudan
April 6, 2006 (JUBA) — The commander of the Bangladeshi contingent of UN peacekeepers in Equatoria sector in southern Sudan, Maj Abakar Ismail, has warned civilians to avoid areas where there might be mines and other dangerous explosive devices left by the war.
Maj Ismail urged people not to pick up or touch suspicious objects as they could be unexploded ordnance. He added that abandoned houses and villages could also be mined and very dangerous.
He also called upon the population to cooperate in marking places that they suspect to be mined and to inform the military authorities about it.
Maj Ismail was speaking in Juba capital of Bahr al-Jabal State, southern Sudan on Tuesday 4 April at a function organized by the UN’s mine action office in Sudan to mark the first International Day for Mine Awareness.
The occasion began with the distribution of mine risk education materials at Customs and Konyokonyo markets during the morning hours.
Demining teams attended the function improvising a fake minefield at the Freedom Square where they displayed a variety of de-mining equipment to the residents of Juba.
According to UN estimates, between 15,000 and 20,000 people are killed by landmines and unexploded ordnance around the world each year. Some 20per cent of them are children.
(SRS/ST)