80 more Indians fly to Sri Lanka to clear landmines

Over 80 former Indian soldiers have left for Sri Lanka following the defeat of the Tamil Tigers to join Indians already there in clearing thousands of buried landmines.

The new group has teamed up with compatriots working since 2003, mainly in the northern districts of Mannar and Vavuniya, in defusing mines laid by both the military and the Tigers during their prolonged conflict.

While 50 of the latest batch of Indians are attached to the Pune-based Horizon Group, 32 are from Sarvatra Technical Consultants, a company that is based in Gurgaon, Haryana. Sarvatra will send 32 more men. Read more ...

Lankan troops recover over 1.5 million landmines in North

Sri Lankan troops have so far recovered over 1.5 million landmines from the region captured from the LTTE and have expedited the process of demining the areas to facilitate the early resettlement of displaced civilians in the northern region.

The army has launched massive searches to recover the weapons of LTTE, especially claymore mines and other destructive explosives, in the northern areas.

Top defence sources said they still believe that millions of mines are buried under land in the areas which were held by the LTTE and added that Indian and Danish demining agencies are also involved in the search process besides Sri Lankan army personnel. Read more ...