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UNDP programme results in a mine-free Albania
More than a decade after the 1999 Kosovo conflict left behind a trail of mines and unexploded ordinances along Albania’s northern border, the country has been declared officially mine-free thanks to a joint UNDP and Government demining programme that also provides assistance to mine victims.
“This area is no longer a place of sorrow, but a place of peace and harmony,” said Rama Basha, a representative of Shishtavec Commune in Kukes, a district in northern Albania where many of the mines lay buried. “Now this area is free.”
As a result of the programme, over 16 million square metres of land in northeastern Albania were cleared of mines and unexploded ordinances, which are weapons like bombs and bullets that did not explode when they were initially used and still pose a threat to anyone who might stumble onto them. Altogether, the programme led to the clearance of over 12,000 anti-personnel and 152 anti-tank mines while almost 5,000 unexploded ordnances were found and destroyed. (Read more...)