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Some of the many items found dangerously close to the runway and within metres of houses. |
When unexploded shells, mortars and grenades littered the area surrounding Mbandaka Airport following a rebel attack, MAG responded quickly to reduce the risk of further bloodshed.
On the morning of 4 April, armed rebels took over the airport in Mbandaka, the largest city in the vast Equateur province.
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With the provincial capital entirely cut off – the airport is one of only two in Equateur, the second being over 300 kilometres away in Gemena – panic spread through the town. Looting was widespread and order was only restored the next day, after the national army (FARDC) and UN mounted a joint counter-attack, in which nine soldiers, two police and one UN soldier were killed; the exact number of rebels and civilians killed remains unclear.
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MAG Community Liaison staff deliver 'stay safe' messages to nearby residents. |
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Marking unexploded ordnance near the runway. |
A large number of the shells, mortars and grenades fired by the rebels in the direction of the airport from the nearby Air Congo district had failed to explode. And, as the security forces advanced on the airport and the rebels fled into the jungle, these highly dangerous items were left where they had fallen, endangering the surrounding population.
While MAG’s Community Liaison Team based in Mbandaka was present in the town, the Manual Clearance Team was working in Ikela, an 11-day boat ride away 600 kilometres to the east.
The need for an emergency clearance operation became clear very quickly as numerous reports circulated regarding the contamination at the airport, and MAG received clearance requests from MONUC (United Nations Mission in D.R. Congo) and the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre. The team immediately began trying to charter a plane in order to bring the teams back as soon as the airport reopened.
A brief visit to the airport by the Community Liaison Team was enough to confirm the high scale of contamination dangerously close to, and on either side of, the runway, and within metres of residential areas.
| Mbandaka | |
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The map above shows only those items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) discovered during the initial visit to the airport, and many more were subsequently discovered.
As MAG's clearance team flew back, the Community Liaison Team delivered Mine Risk Education sessions in the Air Congo district.
These were aimed at warning the population of the dangers on their doorstep, and giving ‘stay safe’ messages designed to reduce the risk of accidental explosions. The community itself was eager to assist MAG by pointing out the location of items they had spotted.
Over four days, the Manual Clearance Team conducted a Battle Area Clearance operation in the area on either side of the runway where UXO had been reported. Around 15 items were found and safely disposed of.
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An FARDC soldier with an unexploded 107mm rocket near the airport. |
In June, six additional items of UXO were found in the jungle beyond the airport where fighting had also taken place, and made safe.
MAG’s emergency response was of great significance to the people of Mbandaka. As well as reducing the immediate threat to life and limb, and maintaining the town’s link to the outside world, the very presence of MAG’s teams in the area helped to restore the confidence of the local population in the safety of their surroundings.
Although it is once again safe to fly into Mbandaka Airport, many clashes between rebels and security forces have been reported near the town since the April incident, meaning that there are likely to be many other contaminated sites in the region. MAG is, as ever, ready to respond to these new challenges.
The work in this article was carried out thanks to funding from Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency).
Reporting and photos by Gwenn Dubourthoumieu.
See also:
- D.R. Congo: The problem / How MAG is helping
- Latest news and case studies from MAG DRC
- VIDEO: Stockpile - a film from DR Congo
- PHOTO GALLERY: Partnership and Community Liaison
- More on Community Liaison
- More on Mine Risk Education
28 June 2010
MAG thanks the following current donors to its DRC programme: DFID (UK Department for International Development) / UKaid; Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Japanese Government; Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, U.S. Department of State; Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency); UK Ministry of Defence; UNDP.
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