Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlmontenegro



Montenegro <![CDATA[Montenegro became contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO), as a result of conflicts during the break-up of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Contamination included (cluster) submunitions left after NATO air strikes on Serbian and Montenegrin military positions in 1999.

As recently as 2007, Montenegro identified two areas as mine-affected, including an 81km stretch of its border with Albania and a 5.9km stretch of its border with Croatia. However, Montenegro has stated since November 2007 that it had become the first country in the Balkan region to be cleared of mines.

The main submunition contamination is reported on and around the airfield at Golubovci, near the capital, Podgorica, which directly affects four villages around the airport. Submunitions continue to pose a threat to the local population, although no incidents were reported in 2007. Their main socio-economic impact is blocking use of forests to collect firewood and lumber, which for some inhabitants are the main sources of income.

Contamination of the Adriatic Sea with underwater UXO is a legacy of World Wars I and II and the 1991–1995 conflict in former Yugoslavia. The location of the residual underwater UXO contamination remains unknown. However, with new equipment donated to Montenegro for underwater detection in March 2008, the area was due to be scanned for UXO “in the near future.”

No new mine/ERW casualties were identified in Montenegro in 2007 and to June 2008. The last reported casualties occurred in 2002 when two people fishing were killed in an underwater explosion caused by unidentified ERW. In 1999, one child was killed and three injured in a submunition incident.

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