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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Seven killed by newly laid mines in 2003

ADDIS ABABA, 20 June 2003 (IRIN) - Seven people have been killed by newly laid landmines in 2003 in the border region of Eritrea and Ethiopia, the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), said on Thursday. Phil Lewis, who heads UNMEE’s Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC), added that close to 30 people were injured.

On Sunday, an Eritrean militia truck hit a newly laid anti-tank mine, injuring the driver. UNMEE deminers who carried out a technical investigation into the incident, which occurred in the eastern border region, reported that there was clear evidence it had been planted very recently. "There was fresh soil about two metres away from the actual point of impact so it was pretty obvious that somebody has laid a mine, probably the night before," Lewis said.

Sunday's incident was the first involving a newly laid mine in Sector East, where border demarcation is expected to start in July. The mine exploded near the main road between the Red Sea port of Assab and the border town of Bure in the 25-km wide security buffer zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Two weeks ago, a newly laid mine exploded some 900 km away, in the western sector of the border region. These are the only two incidents of the sort since the beginning of March.

"We are hoping that they are isolated incidents," Lewis said during a weekly video-linked press briefing between Addis Ababa and Asmara. "We are also hoping that the two parties, who have jointly agreed that these incidents are intolerable, will take appropriate measures to ensure that they are reduced to the lowest possible number."

Lewis said there did not appear to be an increasing trend in planting mines, and that there was no "surge" in activity. In February there had been seven explosions of newly laid mines in the western sector of the 1,000-km long border region.

Meanwhile, in another blast on Tuesday, a mine killed a 55-year-old man who was grazing his cattle in the security zone. UNMEE MACC said it was carrying out an investigation.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

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