AFGHANISTAN| SOUTHERN AFRICA | MOZAMBIQUE |
Map  History of minelaying The civil war between the FRELIMO government and RENAMO opposition resulted in mines being laid by both sides. The government used anti-personnel mines to defend provincial and district towns, airstrips, key bridges, power supplies and military posts - while RENAMO laid anti-vehicle mines to close the roads connecting towns and markets. Extensive minefields were laid along the border by both Portuguese and Rhodesian forces. In the northern half of Mozambique all known minefields have been cleared - a total of 525 minefields containing 100,843 mines. HALO has concluded 14 years of mineclearance (as the sole operator for the majority of that time) with a survey of every community in order to confirm that there are no known minefields remaining. In the central and southern half of Mozambique a mines problem still exists. In 2007, HALO was asked to conduct a Baseline Assessment of the situation. This was completed in October 2007. The findings show that there are 450 confirmed minefields remaining and large minefields in the Cahora Bassa Dam area and on the border with Zimbabwe. This is despite mineclearance expenditure considerably in excess of that in the North. These minefields are a danger to the lives of ordinary people and inhibit their ability to use the land and develop their livelihoods. To clear the remaining minefields will require a combination of manual deminers and mechanical assets. HALO estimates that to reach the same state as the North will require 364 deminers and 4 mechanical assets deployed over 5 - 6 years, with a concurrent, final phase of community survey to confirm all known threats have been removed. A capacity within the Mozambican armed forces has been developed to deal with any residual problem thereafter, likely to be limited to ammunition finds. Requirement for continued clearance HALO Mozambique is seeking funds to increase its demining capacity to 364 deminers. Seeking funds for the following: 30 demining sections 2 demining machines 20 new mine detectors with ground penetration radar
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