SOMALIA: Munitions stockpile clearance in Puntland

Seventy-eight Pakistan-made P4 anti-personnel landmines were found in a storage room in Bosasso. Three hundred people were living and working in the same compound where these were stored.

Three hundred and seventy Italian-made Breda hand grenades were stored in the main police station in Galkayo. They dated back to 1949. Around 1,000 people live and work in close vicinity to the police station and could have been affected if these grenades had accidentally detonated.

The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team carefully removed those items that could be safely transported back to the main demolition site in Garowe. Security is tight on journeys carrying cargo such as this.

At the demolition site, the MAG Technical Field Manager listens as the team explains how it plans to set up the demolition. Training the team on the management and safe implementation of bulk demolitions like this has been a major part of MAG 's role over the past 10 months in Somalia. The local media came to film the destruction for Somali Television.

The range of munitions found in Puntland reflect the conflict-ridden past of this region. The picture above shows weapons from Pakistan, Italy, USA and Russia.

Team members place the munitions in a demolition pit. If they are not arranged correctly the demolition can be very dangerous.

The items for disposal are dug down into the earth in order to minimise the risk of fragmentation and ‘kick-outs’ when the munitions function. All these munitions are designed to explode in different ways, so rigging up a bulk demolition like this one requires skill, experience, training and a strict adherence to procedure.

Detonating cord and small amounts of plastic explosive are used, so that the munitions can be destroyed in a controlled manner from a safe distance.

The demolition is detonated by the team from a safe bunker sunk into the earth 350 metres away. Even from this distance, the boom is incredible and the earth shakes.

A second demolition was carried out safely of some rockets filled with White Phosphorous. This is a particularly nasty munition as it burns the skin of people if they are in the area where it detonates.

[Photos: Pekka Tikkanen/MAG]