Team:Edinburgh/mapxmltunisia



Tunisia <![CDATA[Tunisia is affected by landmines (both antipersonnel and antivehicle), as well as by explosive remnants of war (ERW), primarily unexploded ordnance (UXO), a legacy of World War II. Tunisia laid nine minefields in 1976 and 1980 in the south and southeast of the country, along the border with Libya (at Ras Jedir, M’guisem, Bir Zar, and M’chiguig), and at Borj El-Khadhra where the borders of Tunisia, Algeria and Libya meet. The minefields, which initially contained 5,750 antipersonnel mines and 1,958 antivehicle mines, are in sandy ground where wind causes sand dunes to form and disappear.

As of April 2008, the three minefields at Ras Jedir, M’guisem, and Bir Zar had all been cleared, and one of the two minefields at M’chiguig had been cleared pending the completion of quality control using rakes. This represented more than 80% of the total known mined areas. Operations included the destruction of a total of 5,858 mines (4,676 antipersonnel and 1,182 antivehicle). The second minefield at M’chiguig and four minefields at Borj El-Khadhra represented the remaining confirmed mined areas, containing a residual total of 955 antipersonnel mines and 764 antivehicle mines.

There are also other regions suspected to contain ERW (mostly UXO) and some mines as a result of combat in World War II: in the south (Mareth, Matmata, and El Hamma regions); the center (Kasserine and Faiedh regions); the north (Cap-Bon); and the northwest (Medjez El Bab). According to Tunisia, all casualties reported in recent years are a result of ordnance from these areas, and the army is called upon to deal with items of UXO “on an almost daily basis.”

In 2007 and to June 2008, no new mine/ERW casualties were reported in Tunisia. In 2006, a man was injured by ERW in northern Tunisia. The last reported mine incident occurred in January 2002.

Landmine Monitor identified a Tunisian officer injured during a training accident with a hand grenade in Djibouti in January 2008; a French officer was killed in the same incident.

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