Unexploded munition lethal obstacle for Lebanon's displaced

NABATIYEH, Lebanon (AFP) - Displaced Lebanese returning home after fleeing the bombing of the south face a final, lethal obstacle -- unexploded mines and munitions dropped by the Israeli military.

At the exit of the port city of Sidon, just one hour after the cessation of hostilities took effect at 0500 GMT, young volunteers were distributing pink flyers to the thousands of cars that were heading further south.

"Beware of the mines and the unexploded missiles and strange objects in many forms, such as toys," the flyers warned.

Just hours after the cessation of fighting, one civilian was killed and six others wounded when Israeli cluster bombs exploded close to the inland southern town of Nabatiyeh, police said..

"No one has come in for the moment because we are discouraging it," said Khaled Jaffal, the doctor at the village of Kfar Sir, 13 kilometres south of Nabatiyeh.

"In the center of the village it is alright, but the outskirts, the fields and even the gardens remain dangerous," he said.

The doctor, who set up an emergency committee with soldiers and the municipality for the duration of the war, says families should wait "at least three or four days before coming back, not before the end of the week."

Only 400 of the 6,000 population stayed behind in this market town.

According to a security soldier posted at an intersection in Kfar Sir, "the Israeli airforce dropped many bombs full of small munitions which exploded on the ground. The army will clean it first," he reassured.

As a security measure, access to the villages of Froun and Ghanduriyeh further south towards the Litani river, heavily pounded by the Israeli airforce, remained closed.

"The road is very damaged by the bombs and Hezbollah prefers to cut them for now," said a driver who was cut off southwest of Nabatiyeh.

At around noon, a journalist from Hezbollah's Al-Manar television station showed off two small anti-personnel mines, already defused, that he found on the pavement.

The two missiles were found in an area overlooking the center, he said adding that an ambulance worker who had dealt with the same type of missile earlier had his leg blown off.

Nabatiyeh was heavily pounded by Israeli air raids during the first days of the offensive which was launched on July 12, and the shards of metal still scar the city.

But the roads strewn with broken glass and debris are animated with families in a hurry to find their belongings.

On Monday United Nations agencies and Lebanese authorities warned the population to exercise "extreme caution" because of unexploded munitions.

In a statement, the UN "urged the population to exercise extreme caution, due to the large quantities of unexploded artillery and mortar shells strewn across the countryside."

"On average, 10 percent of artillery shells and mortars, and other projectiles did not explode on impact. These unexploded munitions... remain extremely dangerous," the UN and Lebanese authorities said in a joint statement.

The statement warned people who saw suspicious objects to refrain from touching of moving them.

In Zrariyeh, south west of Nabatiyeh, the Mroue family was the first to find their house, intact.

"Thank God," said Nassira, the mother, as she lit a cigarette on her terrace.

She tried not to pay attention to the sound of the Israeli drone flying overhead. But an explosion close by managed to wipe the smile off her face.

Mohammed, 33, Nassira's brother quickly informed the family that the blast was caused by the Lebanese army exploding munitions.

But Nassira nonetheless grabbed her two-year-old son. She had read the Hezbollah flyers warning of the danger of unexploded ordnance and she didn't want him wandering outside.

Source

About headlines and content that has changed after it was added to this site - see disclaimer here

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.