August 16, 2010: SPADO MRE Team In D.I.Khan Helps Protects Valuable Lives From An Anti-Personnel Landmine (APM) After It Is Identified During A Routine MRE Session

The SPADO has started its project activities in D.I.Khan and Tank since June, 2010. The project beneficiaries were mostly the IDPs of Waziristan. However since the recent devastating floods have affected many areas posing threat of landmines and UXOs carried down by flood waters, the SPADO has also extended their program to local communities also. The rationale for wider intervention can be assessed from the case study mentioned below when the SPADO MRE team was informed about the presence of a killing Anti Personnel Mine (APM) that he found in the flood water.

He narrated the incident as follows
My name is Nawab khan s/o Haji Wazir Kokar and I come from East Miani Abad union council Mandra Saidan tehsil in D.I.Khan .I am 18 years old. The flood has affected our villages. One day I was looking to the flood water which was passing near our house suddenly I saw a strange thing like a utensil. I picked up that thing and brought it home.i and other children at home were playing with that object because it was very attractive in shape and structure.

On 13 Aug,2010 I went out from my house early morning .I heard from someone that few persons had come to our village who wanted to give us some awareness message. I went up to the place where class was taking place. One of the persons in the awareness team started session while displaying banners containing pictures of explosives. He highlighted the point about how we should caution against explosives brought to plains by the recent flooding. He described that such explosives had different shapes, colours, etc and these could kill or maim a person. Hearing this and seeing the pictures being shown to us in the awareness session, the thought of the object I had brought from the flood water flashed into my mind. I informed to the SPADO team that I have the similar thing in my house which you people are displaying in banner and I shared with them also that I have found it in flood water. Then I rushed to my house and brought and displayed it to SPADO team. After looking at the shape and design the SPADO team leader alerted me that it was an Anti Personnel Mine (APM) and it can kill and maim after explosion and it is very dangerous. He also alerted me to stay away from this thing. Then SPADO team called to bomb disposal squad. The squad came and destroyed the APM and in this way I protected my life and lives of my others family members. Sometime I think that if I missed that sessions I would have not saved my life and lives of others.
I am very thankful to SPADO as well as UNICEF for providing this very much needed information and helping to protect our lives because it was due to their efforts that now we are aware that what safe behaviors need to be adopted to be able to protect our lives against landmines and UXOs.

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