Goto main content

HI mine action in northern Chad

Explosive weapons
Chad

Some forty weapons clearance experts have been working in northern Chad since last November. They have already cleared 30,000 sq.m. of land - the equivalent of 4 football fields! 

The GCS 100 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) platform, which left Germany in August 2018, arrived in Chad last December. Once authorisation had been received, it was transported by lorry to Faya.

The GCS 100 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) platform, which left Germany in August 2018, arrived in Chad last December. Once authorisation had been received, it was transported by lorry to Faya. | © HI

Based in Faya-Largeau, in the Borkou district of northern Chad, Humanity & Inclusion currently operates in 15 hazardous areas within a 50-km radius of Faya. HI's weapons clearance experts have already cleared 30.000 sq.m. of land in three months. The team has identified and destroyed 114 explosive remnants of war (ERW).

Clearing explosive ordnance

Working conditions for clearance experts are extreme. Temperatures can reach 40 degrees and strong winds sometime prevent them from working.

Operations began on 6th November 2018. An explosive ordnance clearance platform - a sort of armoured and remote-controlled combine harvester equipped with a rotating device to detonate hazardous devices in its path - was added to the equipment available to clearance teams in early February.

HI works in conjunction with village committees to identify hazardous areas and guide the work of the clearance experts. HI has also run eight ERW risk education sessions for 450 people.

Promoting social and economic development

"The purpose of these operations is to promote development in northern Chad. Many areas are still contaminated by weapons left over from the conflict with Libya in the 1980s. This prevents the use of roads and the implementation of development projects and prolongs the region’s isolation. The authorities are very enthusiastic about this demining project, which has a broad social and economic development component," says Benjamin Westercamp, HI's head of mission in Chad. 

Chad and ERW 

More than 1.5 million square metres of land - the equivalent of more than 200 football fields - is estimated to be contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war, a legacy of successive conflicts since the 1970s.

Date published: 04/03/19

COUNTRIES

Where we work

Read more

 “I Stepped on the Threshold and My Life Changed Forever”
© HI
Explosive weapons Rehabilitation

“I Stepped on the Threshold and My Life Changed Forever”

In the Al-Raqqa countryside, families rebuild lives interrupted by conflict. Anoud, 55 years old, is learning to walk again after losing her leg to a landmine explosion.

Hatem struggles to rebuild his shattered life
© HI
Explosive weapons Rehabilitation

Hatem struggles to rebuild his shattered life

Hatem is among the thousands whose lives have been torn apart by the war in Syria. Injured, amputated, displaced, he struggles to rebuild his life.

Rehabilitation sessions continue in Gaza to prevent permanent disabilities
© Zaid Nateel / HI
Emergency Explosive weapons Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation sessions continue in Gaza to prevent permanent disabilities

Door-to-door rehabilitation sessions continue in Gaza despite the horrible circumstances. Omnia is one of the hundreds of patients Humanity & Inclusion was able to reach.

FOLLOW US