War-time explosives cleared from city
263 views · Published 7 November 2018 · 2:27 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(2 Nov 2018) LEADIN: A demining team has started work in Mosul to clear the city of unexploded mines and bombs. With careful planning and use of mechanical diggers, a foreign and local demining team are working together on a public car park in west Mosul. STORYLINE: A careful step. A hand goes up. The team has found something suspicious amongst the rubble. This demining team has been tasked with clearing unexploded bombs from the area. And they are conducting a painstaking search for the dangerous remnants. "We receive reports on dangerous areas and our duty is to clear these dangerous zones from explosive items, mines, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)," says team leader Dawoud Salim. The explosives were laid out during military clashes between the Iraqi security forces and the Islamic State group between 2016 and 2017. Some may have been deliberately planted by the militants. Other bombs may be military ordnance fired at IS which failed to detonate. All presents a danger to life for anyone who unwittingly stumbles across it. The work is being directed by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and is being carried out by global security and risk management firm G4S alongside local partner Al Saqar Company. Heavy equipment has been brought it to clear this car park of war debris. "The reason that we have to conduct this search using armoured mechanical assets and search teams is because the buildings that have been obviously destroyed, before this were possible ISIS (Islamic State group) IED (improvised exploded devices) factories and storage locations for UXO (unexploded ordnance), rockets, mortars," says James Thomas, a technical advisor for G4S. The team has already cleared the site and found several explosive materials such as hand grenades and mortar shells. Mosul is the second largest city in Iraq with a population around three million people. It was captured and controlled by IS for three years between 2014-2017, until the Iraqi security forces retook it with the international coalition's support in July 2017. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/08bed755117f8acccf7ca555557d1e92
