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More than 13,000 mines destroyed by the Saharawi army since 2006

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Chahid El Hafed (Saharawi refugee camps), April 06, 2016 (SPS) - More than 13,000 of the 9 million mines laid by the Moroccan army along the "wall of shame" (Moroccan defensive wall), were destroyed by the Saharawi army since 2006 in coordination with international specialized agencies, the Director of the Office of coordination of Sahrawi Mine Action (SMACO), Samou Amideh said.
 
 
On the occasion of the international day of awareness about the danger of mines in Western Sahara, the director of SMACO said that since 2006 has been cleared an area of nearly 15 million square meters in 57 areas in Tifariti and 79 in Mheriz where destroyed more than 10,000 cluster bombs and other 2,000 munitions.
 
The Saharawi official said international conventions "are not enough," adding that "complaints and excuses are not enough to compensate countries victims of such arsenals of death", stressing that the Moroccan wall "remains a shame to the Moroccan occupier ".
 
SAMCO director stated that the Polisario Front signed in 2005, the Geneva Declaration on the fight against landmines, while Morocco has refused to accede to international conventions banning landmines as the Ottawa Convention.
 
The Saharawi responsible also recalls that the mines do not distinguish between men, women and children, or between humans and animals, and their victims, if they survive, continue their life in pain and suffering.
 
"Western Sahara is a territory contaminated today by millions of mines planted by Morocco since its invasion in 1975 and especially along the wall of shame," concluded the Saharawi expert.SPS
 
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