Floods in Bosnia Dislodge Mines

The waters begin to retreat, but the floods of last week continue to plague Bosnia. Although differently. Officials fear some of the anti-personnel mines in the country – a legacy of the conflict that tore the former Yugoslavia in 1992 and 1995 – have been displaced by landslides and no longer in areas where they have been detected over the last two decades.

The first confirmation of this possibility came last Wednesday when official sources reported the explosion of a device. No casualties were reported, but the alarms are fired. “The rivers are being mine. Some of them are made of plastic and float as simple dishes. The water, however, can also be easily iron mines,”said Mine Action Center (MAC), a government organization.

The worst floods in over a century in this area have caused the death of 51 people and the evacuation of nearly 150,000 in Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia, with such significant damage that officials said ” more than 10 years will be needed to get fixed all the damage. “But this new dangerous scenario of landmines is added. “According to official figures, the Government published a year ago, in Bosnia there are 120,000 artifacts scattered minefields 10,000 in a total area of 1,200 square kilometers. The floods have moved many of them to places that are not marked on maps. There are at least 19 municipalities in which artifacts can be found in places where there was none before. The work location for the past five or six years has been completely lost,”Ahdin Orahovac, vice director MAC explained.

The organization estimates that since the war ended in 1995, the mines have killed more than 600 people and injured about 1,700. ” If land mines have been eroded by the action of the floods, the problem could be very serious. In addition, you must act very quickly to restore everything needed for signaling and prevent access to the minefields, “explains Guy Rhodes Email, COO of the International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).

Orahovac of MAC, shares this vision, and specifies that to reposition the posters that said minefields and to help citizens, and that the artifacts could be “up in the gardens of private houses ” – the help of international community is essential. “We need 300 million euros over the next five years to detect and remove all mines, we do not have a budget. Belgium has already sent us aircraft which we will use to make a first aerial survey of the affected areas. Many other public institutions and private organizations have offered free collaboration. We will create six de-mining teams only for Sava River” Orahovac explained. Floods in Bosnia Dislodge Mines

Throughout the week, members of MAC have emphasized the risk that water from the Sava, which runs the border with Croatia and flows into the Danube in Serbia, drag mines towards these two countries. One problem that the possibility of artifacts getting stuck in the turbines of hydroelectric plants found in these areas is added. “Tomorrow we will have a meeting with the MAC of Serbia. We try to work in strict international collaboration, ” riveted Orahovac.

However, not all assessments of the consequences of flooding are unanimous. Andrew Moore, responsible for the Caucasus and the Balkans Halo Trust, a leading NGO in the field of anti-personnel mines, explained by email that ” a slip of the terrain can be a big obstacle to remove landmines. But it is highly unlikely that the number of minefields affected by the flood is relevant. Bosnian government estimates the total number of mines also seem exaggerated, ” he says.

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Posted by Khalil Khan on May 24 2014. Filed under Europe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.