Mozambique: Charity declares country free of landmines

| September 21, 2015

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The HALO Trust, a charity dedicated to mine clearance, is ending two decades of work to rid Mozambique of explosives left over from the civil war. On Thursday of last week, it declared Mozambique free of landmines.

The organization said it had destroyed the last known mine, one of the more than 171,000 landmines it has cleared since 1993.

The organization’s statement continues: “Mine clearance has helped the country develop its infrastructure, access vital commodities such as gas and coal, increase tourism, and attract international investment. Communities can now cultivate crops and graze livestock safely.”

To read the article in full, go to: http://www.trust.org/item/20150917091005-axnam/

Photo: Archive photo of a Mozambican rat handler Jorge Makukule playing with a Gambian giant pouch rat (Cricetomys gambianus) at a suspected anti-personnel minefield near the town of Vilancoulos 450 Km’s north east of the capital Maputo in southern Mozambique, November 10, 2004. Credit: Trust