Team:Edinburgh/mapxmllebanon



Lebanon <![CDATA[Lebanon is contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), particularly (cluster) submunitions and other unexploded ordnance (UXO). Mines and explosive ordnance were used extensively from the beginning of the civil war in 1975 until the end of the Israeli occupation in 2000. When Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, some 400,000 mines remained to be cleared. The 2003 Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) found 306 impacted communities affected by 933 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) covering an estimated 137km2.

By the end of 2007, there were still mines in the south along the UN-delineated Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel, and in areas north of the Litani river, in the Bekaa valley, and across Mount Lebanon. The Mine Action Coordination Centre Southern Lebanon (MACC SL) estimates there are about 375,000 landmines along the Blue Line and up to about 3km inside Lebanese territory, covering an area of more than 7km2, but it has not been given a mandate by the Lebanese government to clear them (apart from a specific area along the Blue Line in al-Adaysseh village).

The 2006 conflict with Israel resulted in heavy new contamination of southern Lebanon with an estimated 500,000 submunitions and other types of UXO. As of 21 July 2008, MACC SL had identified 1,056 cluster bomb strike locations covering a total of 40.7km2. By the end of 2007, MACC SL reported that 32.6km2 of this area had been released,[16] and by June 2008 the figure had risen to 37.5km2.

A study of the economic impact of submunition contamination in Lebanon found that two-thirds of the land originally affected was agricultural, representing close to 5% of all agricultural land in southern Lebanon. It estimated current and projected losses of agricultural production would total between US$22.6 million and $26.8 million.

In 2007, Landmine Monitor identified at least 130 new mine/ERW casualties in Lebanon, of whom 37 were killed and 93 injured. LMAC recorded 69 of these casualties, MACC SL 70 and the Landmine Resource Center (LMRC) 69; 64 of the casualties recorded by MACC SL and LMAC were identical. Only 36 of the casualties were recorded in all three databases; in particular, information on military casualties was lacking. Landmine Monitor analysis of media articles identified an additional 27 casualties not recorded in any of the databases (13 LAF, seven foreign troops, two deminers, and five civilians).

The most common activity recorded was clearance (30), including at least eight LAF soldiers, seven MAG staff, six UNIFIL troops, four BACTEC staff, and one each for FSD, ArmorGroup, and SRSA (no details available for the two others). Ten of the clearance casualties were foreign (from Belgium, China, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe). Other foreign casualties were 10 Palestinian civilians (seven in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp) and seven Spanish UN forces.

Civilians were usually carrying out livelihood activities such as farming, herding, burning weeds, and collecting wood (28% of civilian casualties), or tampering (19% of civilian casualties), mostly by males (17). While shepherds were considered to be most at risk by LMAC, both UNDP and MACC SL stated that most people were involved in tampering, although this is not necessarily recorded as such.

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