The UN has urgently requested the help of MAG (Mines Advisory Group) to
remove unexploded weapons (including mortars, rockets and cluster
munitions) from roads, towns and homes in southern Lebanon to ensure
safe return for people in the area. MAG teams, which till recently were
in Beirut awaiting the ceasefire, are now in Nabatieh in the south to
begin clearance operations.
The UK government has pledged
their support. Executive director Lou McGrath said: “We’re pleased the
UK’s International Development Secretary Hilary Benn acknowledged
yesterday that clearing unexploded ordnance is very much part of the
emergency in Lebanon and our government has committed much-needed funds
for this work. MAG is on the ground now and needs support to increase
our teams as more people return and the risk of accidents from
unexploded bombs rises.”
MAG’s information manager Sean Sutton
in Nabatieh said: “During the first 24-hours of the ceasefire there
have been a number of casualties caused by unexploded ordnance and
cluster munitions, including a reported six people injured in Nabatieh.
"We heard just two hours after the bombing stopped that one child was
killed by unexploded ordnance. With increasing numbers of people in a
hurry to get back home, MAG’s efforts are vital in reducing the risk of
injury or death to the returning population, and enabling humanitarian
supplies to safely reach the people most at need.”
Teams are
working on the ground in Nabatieh and Tyre at the moment, initially
surveying the towns to identify and carry out the most high priority
clearance tasks for the returning population, before expanding their
range to cover outlying villages.
Staff are reporting countless
unexploded weapons lying precariously along access routes and in
buildings and homes, all of which need to be made safe. MAG’s 80-strong
Lebanese staff, mostly from Nabatieh and the surrounding area, possess
both the local knowledge and technical expertise to deal with the new
threat.
Sutton added: “Towards the end of the bombing some
4,000 explosive items were being dropped daily on the south of the
country. A conservative estimate suggests that 10 per cent of these
items failed to explode, with the figure being even higher for cluster
munitions.”
MAG needs to deploy additional teams to deal with
the extent of the current crisis both in clearance and in providing
risk reduction education. Experience in other immediate post-conflict
countries, including Iraq in 2003, has shown that civilians are most at
risk when returning to their homes and are unaware of the dangers they
face.
17 August 06
