Authorities in Angola have cleared about 50-million square metres of landmines under the country’s ongoing demining programme, state media reported on Tuesday.
The coordinator of the executive demining commission, Joao Baptista Kussumua, made the statement at a ceremony to receive two demining machines donated by the Japanese government, the official Angop news agency said.
Kussumua, who is also Angola’s Social Welfare Minister, said that about two million unexploded ordnance devices had been located and destroyed in the period since the Southern African nation’s 27-year civil war ended in 2002.
”We are going through a new phase in which Angola’s development process requires a strong attack on landmines left during the war in the country,” he said.
The continued prevalence of landmines has been cited by the authorities as one of the reasons why long-awaited legislative elections are being held over until next year. — AFP
