Two men had their feet amputated and two children were injured Saturday after stepping on landmines in the former Israeli-occupied border zone in southern Lebanon, the police said.
Mohamad Mahmoud Hijazi, 22, stepped on a mine near an abandoned post of the now-disbanded Israeli-allied South Lebanon Army militia in the village of Debbine, they said.
Hijazi's left foot was blown off and his nearby brothers Mohamad Ahmad Sowaid, 9, and Ali Ahmad Sowaid, 5, were injured in the face and legs, they said.
Earlier Saturday, a Lebanese fisherman had to have his foot and his hand amputated after stepping on an mine near a former Israeli army post in the southern village of Baraasheet, they said.
Issam Missilmani, 33, had been selling fish in Baraasheet when he stepped on the mine, they said.
On Friday, an 18-year-old Lebanese shepherd, Abbas Ali Fakih, also had to have his foot amputated after stepping on a landmine near the town of Bent Jbeil, also in the former Israeli-occupied border zone.
Nine civilians have been killed and 59 others injured by mines since the May 24 Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. A dozen Lebanese troops were also injured during mine clearing operations.
The UN estimates that there are at least 130,000 Israeli mines and unexploded shells remaining in southern Lebanon.
On November 14, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon announced that its mine clearing units had removed 1,520 explosive devices -- TYRE, Lebanon (AFP)
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