Unicef Voices Concern Over Unexploded Bombs

Lebanon: As Schools Reopen Unicef Voices Concern Over Threat From Unexploded Bombs

New York, Oct 10 2006 5:00PM

Lebanese children preparing to go back to school next week face “a terrible situation” from up to 1 million pieces of unexploded ordnance left over from Israel’s 34-day war with Hizbollah this summer, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today.

The agency is continuing its work to make families and children aware of what an unexploded device or cluster bomb looks like, UNICEF spokesman Michael Bociurkiw told a news briefing in Geneva.

“The number of unexploded cluster bombs ranges from 100,000 to 1 million and it remains a primary threat to children, especially as they go back to school,” he said. School opens on 16 October.

At the end of last month, UN officials said some 592 cluster bomb strike locations had been identified, and 40,000 cluster sub-munitions and other pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) had been cleared out of the possible total of 1 million. Fourteen people were killed and 90 injured from all types of unexploded ordnance from 14 August until 19 September.

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