123 landmine victims in April

Up to 123 people were victims of antipersonnel landmine explosions in April in the Virunga National Park of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a local UN official said on Wednesday.

Marcel Quiron, the director of the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre for the DRC, told reporters in the capital, Kinshasa, that he was troubled by the impact of the devices in the country.

"The [impact] is also socioeconomical since the victims cannot work and all their dependants suffer as a result," he said. "In addition, the presence of landmines means women do not have access to sources of water."

He added that women had to walk very long distances to fetch water, often leaving them tired too do other work.

According to the centre, there are nearly 1,000 landmine victims in the country. Quirion said more victims would most likely be discovered once investigators enter areas that were perviously inaccessable areas due to insecurity.

"The zones most mined are in the east of the country, notably in [the northeast district of] Ituri," he said.

There were also mines in the north of Katanga and along the former frontline that separated the belligerents during the war, he added. In all, the centre had identified 350 landmine zones. This siutation, he said, could create difficulties in the organisation of general elecltions due in 2005.

Operations to clear landmines have been undertaken by NGOs. A South African company, Mechem, working for the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, has proceeded to clean up the Beni-Bunia axis in the northeast of the country and along the sides of some airstrips in Kisangani, Manono and Kindu. Swiss and Danish mine-clearance NGOs are operating respectively in Bunia and Kalemie.