UNIFIL mine clearer (Archive)
Photo: AP
Lebanon: Cluster bomb blast hurts 2 mine clearing experts
Cluster bomb from the Hizbullah-Israel war in southern Lebanon explodes Friday, wounding two members of international team of land mine clearing experts
A cluster bomb from the Hizbullah-Israel war in southern Lebanon exploded Friday wounding two members of an international team of land mine clearing experts, Lebanese security officials said.
The two experts' legs were wounded, and they were rushed to the government hospital in the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun where their conditions were described as serious.
The explosion took place in a field near the village of Deir Mimas south of Marjayoun and three kilometers (two miles) west of the Israeli border.
The wounded land mine clearing experts were identified by the security officials as David Aldies, from Great Britain, and Damir Brasic, from Bosnia. Their hometowns were not given. The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.
The two are members of the British-based Mine Advisory Group, which has been working in southern Lebanon since the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area in May 2004 after 18-years of occupation.
The security officials said Aldiers and Brasic ran into the field after a herd of goats that had strayed into it detonated a cluster bomb and they themselves stepped on another one.
The United Nations and human rights groups have accused Israel of firing as many as 4 million cluster bombs into Lebanon during its war with Hizbullah this summer that ended in a UN-brokered cease-fire on August 14.
UN demining experts say up to 1 million cluster bombs failed to explode and continue to threaten civilians. At least 24 people have died in cluster bomb explosions in Lebanon since the war ended
