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FROM THE FIELD

FSD deployed to Kfar Shouba, a cluster munition affected area in South Lebanon
29 Jun 2009 06:42:00 GMT
 Source: Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) - Switzerland
As-Safir Newspaper

Website: Website: http://www.assafir.com

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The danger area is located not far from the village school.
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The danger area is located not far from the village school.
Assafir Newspaper
On 19th June, the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) organized a media trip to its cluster munition clearance task in the village of Kfar Shouba in South Lebanon. Representatives from various local newspaper and TV stations received a site brief, followed by a visit to the task. Journalist from the following media participated in this trip: Aliwaa, As-Safir, Al-Akhbar, Al Mustawbal newspapers, Future and TeleLiban TV stations.

Below is a translation of an article published in As-safir newspaper (the original text is in Arabic):

Kassem Ghossein, the Assistant Operations Officer of FSD in South Lebanon, was keen on the safety of the journalists who were present during the media visit to FSD's cluster munition clearance site in the village of Kfar Shouba. Before the journalists entered the site, Mr. Ghossein stated that FSD in Lebanon works under the umbrella of the Lebanese Armed Forces and that we can only enter the site area if we wear Personal Protective Equipment.

At the entrance of the western side of Kfar Shouba, FSD built up a tent for control and command point. Israeli forces dropped thousands of cluster bombs during July 2006 strikes, which caused the land owners to suspend their agricultural activities in the area.

Armen Harutyunyan, Programme Manager of FSD Lebanon said, ''FSD received 249,000 Swiss francs from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs for a 3-months cluster munition clearance project in South Lebanon. Each of the two sites that FSD is working on, are around 100,000 sq. m. and are located not far from Kfar Shouba village school. Within the first 10 days of operations, the two teams cleared 35 thousand sq. m. of contaminated land having found and destroyed four cluster munitions. The Lebanese army has previously conducted emergency clearance in this area and destroyed sub munitions, in order to eliminate the immediate threat to the civilian population. The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action hopes to continue working in the area until the task is completed, so that the local population can return to their land without fear of being injured.''

Yousef Al Houjairy, one of the site supervisors, indicated that each team consists of eight searchers equipped to safely detect cluster munitions. He added that the M42 cluster munition is one of the most widespread types of sub munitions and that FSD has an excellent safety record and has never had a fatal accident that could lead to a serious injury or death of an FSD searcher. The area will be handed over to the Lebanese Army and the owners of the land.

It is reported, that the area is contaminated with two types of cluster bombs, M42 and M77 but the full scale of contamination will not be known until the completion of the cleaning process.

Al Houjairy also said that after July 2006 war the Lebanese army destroyed 12x M77 and 19x M42 and now FSD is completing the close visual search in these contaminated squares, which will be followed by sub-surface clearance of certain areas using metal detectors.

During clearance, the searchers use coloured wood pickets and red and white tape, to indicate safe working areas. Touching or picking any objects from the ground is prohibited, the work stops only when the team leader blows his whistle.

Ali, one of the searchers of the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action, said, '' every tree takes almost a full day to clear and every branch of each tree needs to be inspected. We prioritise areas - the first priority is to clear residential areas, then comes the agricultural land and forests, which are by far the most difficult areas to clear.''

The visit to the dangerous areas of Kfar Shouba, contaminated with thousands of cluster bombs, ended with a demolition of a sub-munition found a day earlier close to one of the trees.

The Mayor of Kfar Shouba, Izat Al Kadiri, who was present during the visit, thanked the Swiss organization and the Lebanese army for their contribution to helping people to restore their land. The mayor said he hoped that the clearance will continue till most of the cluster munitions are destroyed and the citizens can cultivate their land after thirty years of suffering.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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