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World - Europe

Land mines pose serious threat to returning Kosovars

June 25, 1999
Web posted at: 10:02 p.m. EDT (0202 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. State Department official said Friday that unexploded land mines and NATO bombs in Kosovo make it "the world's most dangerous real estate," and could pose a serious threat to people in the province for the next five years.

Ambassador Don Steinberg, the U.S. special representative for global humanitarian de-mining, told reporters at a State Department briefing that reports indicate there may have been two dozen land mine explosions in recent weeks.

NATO peacekeeping troops are surveying minefields in Kosovo with the help of maps provided by Yugoslav forces and will eventually organize a clearance program.

More immediate steps involve putting up posters and broadcasting warnings on the radio to returning ethnic Albanian refugees.

International aid groups are also distributing comic books that warn children on the subject. Warnings about land mine dangers will also become integrated into school curriculums in the form of plays, songs and puppets.

Adding to the peril is the lack of functioning hospitals and other medical treatment facilities in Kosovo. As a result, some land mine injuries that should have been treatable have caused fatalities, U.S. officials said.

U.S. officials also fear that the problem will be further complicated by the increasing stream of international aid groups and peacekeepers on Kosovo's limited roadways in the months to come.


RELATED STORIES:
European ministers 'appalled' by scenes of alleged Kosovo atrocities
June 23, 1999
U.S. Marines come under fire in Kosovo; gunman killed
June 23, 1999
Kosovo conflict maims Albanian-American fighter
June 23, 1999
FBI team in Kosovo begins war crime investigation
June 23, 1999

RELATED SITES:
Yugoslavia:
  • Federal Republic of Yugoslavia official site
      • Kesovo and Metohija facts
  • Serbia Ministry of Information
  • Serbia Now! News

Kosovo:
  • Kosova Crisis Center
  • Kosovo - from Albanian.com

Military:
  • NATO official site
  • BosniaLINK - U.S. Dept. of Defense
  • U.S. Navy images from Operation Allied Force
  • U.K. Ministry of Defence - Kosovo news
  • U.K. Royal Air Force - Kosovo news
  • Jane's Defence - Kosovo Crisis


Resettlement Agencies Helping Kosovars in U.S.:
  • Church World Service
  • Episcopal Migration Ministries
  • Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
  • Iowa Department of Human Services
  • International Rescue Committee
  • Immigration and Refugee Services of America
  • Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
  • United States Catholic Conference

Relief:
  • World Relief
  • Doctors without borders
  • U.S. Agency for International Development (Kosovo aid)
  • Doctors of the World
  • InterAction
  • International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
  • International Committee of the Red Cross
  • Kosovo Humanitarian Disaster Forces Hundreds of Thousands from their Homes
  • Catholic Relief Services
  • Kosovo Relief
  • ReliefWeb: Home page
  • The Jewish Agency for Israel
  • Mercy International
  • UNHCR


Media:
  • Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
  • Independent Yugoslav radio stations B92
  • Institute for War and Peace Reporting
  • United States Information Agency - Kosovo Crisis

Other:
  • Expanded list of related sites on Kosovo
  • 1997 view of Kosovo from space - Eurimage
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