Mozambique’s National Demining Institute has declared the country free of land mines at last.
The country removed its last known landmine after two decades of work to get rid of the explosives that have been a menace to locals.
The mines have led to many deaths and incapacitated many more.
Close to 171,000 landmines were removed during the operation, according to Halo Trust, a British charity that led the clearance.
The landmines were left after a long fight for independence that was later followed by civil war. Many of these were still planted up until the 1990’s.
The charity says it is the first large mine-contaminated country to be completely cleared of the mines.
The last mine was removed from the base of a railway bridge in the middle of the country.
Many of them were planted close to key structures such as dams, bridges and electricity pylons.
The clearing operation saw 17m sq of land cleared, areas that the authorities now hope can be put into agricultural use.
Other countries are still going on with clearing landmines within their borders including Sri Lanka and Angola.
