Six killed in mine blast

Six people were killed and three others injured after a tractor hit a landmine near the Ethiopian border with Eritrea, the United Nations said on Thursday. The blast, which occurred on 13 August south of Humera inside Ethiopian territory, is still under investigation, the UN’s Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said. The peacekeepers are trying to establish whether the blast – which was outside the Temporary Security Zone patrolled by UNMEE - was a result of a newly-laid mine. Dave Bax, deputy head at the UN’s Mine Action Coordinating Centre (MACC), warned that newly-laid mines were being planted by unknown groups along the border. “Definitely some of the mines that we are finding are newly-laid which would lead one to believe that there is some kind of a coordinated mine campaign going on,” he told a weekly press briefing. "There have been mines found on both sides of the border," he said. “There is activity going on. The level of it and who it is, we are not in a position to make any judgements on that.” According to recent estimates, Ethiopia has some two million mines on its territory – many left over from previous wars in the region. The Mine Clearing Agency of Ethiopia, which is backed by the US defence department, has cleared around 364,000 mines from the country. UNMEE revealed that some 19 new mines had been discovered along the 1,000 km border this year – six of them in Ethiopian territory. The majority of the blasts and the “highest risk” area are in the western sector – where the six people where killed, UNMEE added.