A Zimbabwe mine-clearing expert was injured Monday in operations to clear south Lebanon of mines left behind by Israel after its May 2000 withdrawal from the region, Lebanese police said.
Alexandre Masoizi, aged 32, was moderately hurt in the hands when a mine exploded in a field in Haddatha in the western sector of south Lebanon. He was later hospitalized in the port city of Sidon.
Masoizi is the sixth Zimbabwean to have been injured in the past five months in mine-clearing operations financed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), police said, according to AFP.
A second phase of the 50-million-dollar campaign was launched on May 28. At least 30 civilians have been killed and hundreds injured by mine blasts since Israel pulled out from southern Lebanon. Around 20 Lebanese and Syrian soldiers have also been hurt in mine-clearing operations.
United Nations peacekeepers estimate it will take four years to clear the hundreds of thousands of mines left behind by Israeli troops and local militia allies. (Albawaba.com)
