Boy killed in grenade blast

A teenage boy was killed and his younger brother seriously injured when they accidentally detonated an unexploded ordnance, believed to be a rocket propelled grenade, near Shilalo in western Eritrea. According to the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), the accident occurred on Saturday in the village of Andalia. "The 13 year old, who was holding the grenade, was killed instantly by mortal injuries to his chest and head," UNMEE said. "The 11 year old boy was severely injured by fragments to his abdomen, chest and head." The boy was evacuated to Asmara by an UNMEE helicopter. As a result of the accident, UNMEE's Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC) is currently conducting mine awareness training in Andalia. UNMEE also said an anti-personnel landmine was discovered in Shilalo town and is being disposed of by UNMEE deminers, who will also conduct a mine clearance operation of the general area. "Both incidents highlight the critical need for the re-introduction of a continuous MRE [Mine Risk Education] programme for the mine and UXO [unexploded ordnance] affected populations in the region," UNMEE stressed. The incidents come as UNMEE warned of newly-laid mines in the area it patrols, which it described as a "constant threat that we have to be monitoring and dealing with". MACC boss Phil Lewis told a press conference last week that during 2002, there were 12 incidents in the western sector alone "of what we believe to be newly-laid mines in those areas that caused many injuries and deaths to the civilian population, vehicles detonating newly-laid mines". "Demining is a risky business and we cannot guarantee that someone hasn't come in and laid a new mine on a road that we cleared the day before," he added. UNMEE Force Commander Major General Robert Gordon stressed that the mine laying activity "is not coming from the regular forces of the Eritreans or the Ethiopians". "The situation between those two regular forces is calm and proper and the agreement is being rigorously adhered to," he said. "But there are other movements in that western areas, adjoining as it does the troubles in the Sudan and there are elements, which operate certainly across the western border of Eritrea and Ethiopia."