Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlbelarus



Belarus <![CDATA[Belarus is primarily contaminated by large quantities of explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO) from World War II, World War I, and even from the Napoleonic Wars. There is also a significant residual mine problem from World War II, although no known or suspected mined areas. Government officials have claimed that an (improbably high) 353,405km2 of the country is contaminated with explosive ordnance. I n 2007, the Ministry of Defense received 643 call-outs and destroyed 7,582 items of explosive ordnance, including 17 antipersonnel mines and 15 antivehicle mines. The Ministry of Interior received 2,713 call-outs and destroyed 19,081 items of explosive ordnance, including 2,750 antivehicle mines.

In 2007, three new casualties were reported as the result of one ERW incident and one incident with a victim-activated improvised explosive device (IED). One man was killed and another injured in the IED incident. It was assumed the IED was constructed from ERW, and had been intended for hunting wild boar in a forest in the Gomel region. Another man was injured while tampering with a grenade in Mogilev region. No mine casualties were reported in 2007 and none have been recorded in Belarus since 2004.

In 2006, two civilian men were injured in two ERW incidents in Vitebsk region. The number of casualties has continued to decrease annually since 2004 when 16 casualties were reported.

In 2008, no casualties were reported as of 20 June.

Belarus has said it did not produce or export antipersonnel mines after independence in 1992, and never used antipersonnel mines for protection of its borders or for other purposes ]]> <![CDATA[]]>