Occupied Palestinian Territories

A half-century of conflict has contributed to the current unstable situation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, split between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-controlled West Bank. Both explosive ordnance and unexploded ordnance remain from the civil struggle between Hamas and Fatah political factions, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Earlier this year, Israeli forces imposed dominion over the Gaza Strip, plunging the region into a humanitarian crisis. On 23 January 2008, a series of Hamas-detonated landmine explosions along the border wall in Rafah, Gaza Strip, opened passage for tens of thousands of Palestinians to escape into Egypt. No signs of resolution are yet in sight for these regions impeded by continual violence and escalating poverty

Belarus

An heir to massive Soviet stockpiles of anti-personnel mines and other munitions, Belarus has been actively facing its extensive explosive legacy through significant destruction of this explosive ordnance. Belarus is also affected by unexploded and abandoned ordnance left in large part from heavy fighting between German and Soviet troops during World War II and, to a lesser degree, minefields laid by both sides. Additional explosive remnants of war come from World War I and the 18th and 19th century\u27s Napoleonic wars

Falkland/Malvinas Islands

In 1982, the Argentine junta government, faced with recession and declining public support, invaded the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, whose ownership had long been disputed with the United Kingdom. To the surprise of the Argentine generals, the United Kingdom counter-invaded the territory it claimed as the Falkland Islands. By the end of the three-month conflict, the Falkland/Malvinas Islands were again under British control. Ownership of the islands has long been disputed, but since 1833, excluding a brief period during the Falklands War, Britain has been in control. Despite numerous U.N. resolutions directing the United Kingdom and Argentina to seek a peaceful resolution of the conflict, they have failed to resolve their territorial dispute over this land

Chad

The mine and unexploded ordnance contamination in Chad is a result of decades of internal conflict, the 1973 Libyan invasion and intensive mining during Libya’s occupation of the Aouzou Strip in the north from 1984 to 1987. Most of the known mined areas are in the Borkou- Ennedi-Tibesti region in the north and the Biltine and Quaddai regions in the east. Areas such as the Wadi Doum Military Base are also contaminated with abandoned missiles, munitions and other explosive remnants of war

Cambodia

Plagued by nearly three decades of war, Cambodia remains one of the countries most afflicted by landmines and explosive remnants of war despite its recent decline in mine/ERW victims. There are nearly 14 million people living in Cambodia, and it is estimated that there are 43,316 survivors of landmines/unexploded ordnance who require assistance

Colombia

Colombi

Nicaragua

Nicaragua’s landscape is as volatile as its past. Located in Central America south of Honduras and north of Costa Rica, its land is troubled by earthquakes, 40 volcanoes, landslides and tropical hurricanes. Nicaragua received its political independence from Spain in 1821 and became an independent republic in 1838. From 1896, it was ruled under a dynasty/dictatorship established by President Anastasio Somoza García until a bloody revolution occurred in 1979 led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Over a decade of internal conflict caused Nicaragua to be heavily mined before most of the fighting ended in 1990. Since 1990, the Nicaraguan economy has slowly tried to recover but was heavily affected by Hurricane Mitch, which hit Central America in 1998

Kuwait

Kuwai

Guatemala

Tucked among Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, Guatemala is a country full of history. Farming and fishing villages date back to as early as 2000 B.C. and represent the beginning of the Mayan culture that dominated the area for centuries. In 1583, Pedro de Alvarado, sent by the king of Spain, conquered the lands of the remaining Mayans and took possession of the land. The year 1821 brought independence from Spanish rule but not an improvement in the lives of the Mayans. Various leaders and governments took power, and in the 1950s, Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán carried on the liberal inclinations begun by earlier leaders. The 1960s and 1970s brought many military presidents and an eventual civil war. Internal tensions rose between 1980 and 1989. During this time, conflict between the government and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemala (UNRG) resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and created approximately one million refugees. In 1999, Guatemala held its first peacetime elections in 40 years and a new government was sworn in on January 14, 2000

Egypt

Egypt is one of the most heavily mined nations in the world, with estimates ranging from 16.7 to 22 million landmines/pieces of unexploded ordnance, or an estimated one-tenth of the world’s 200 million landmines. Seventeen million landmines and pieces of UXO are estimated to be located in the Western Desert, a result of intense fighting during World War II between Allied and Axis forces at the El- Alamein perimeter. Approximately five million additional landmines were spread across the Sinai Peninsula and Red Sea coasts, largely from the Arabian-Israeli conflicts of 1956, 1957 and 1973. The Egyptian military estimates 19.7 million mines and pieces of UXO still exist, after nearly three million mines/pieces of UXO were cleared between 1983 and 1999, mostly in the Sinai