Another 22 de-mining teams to be deployed in ex-Fata

PESHAWAR: Another 22 demining teams are being formed by the army to defuse and remove improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and landmines in the erstwhile Fata, a senior security official said on Saturday.

The official said these de-miners would be in addition to the 43 teams already working in the seven former tribal agencies. The de-mining teams are active in all the tribal districts, particularly in North Waziristan and South Waziristan.

Though the de-miners have cleared mines in many places, they still have to do lot of work in certain areas as explosions continue to happen occasionally causing loss of life and injuries.

According to experts, defusing mines is a tedious and risky job as clearing one square kilometre area normally takes two hours. Many soldiers and civilians have lost their lives due to explosions caused by the mines.

Removal of mines in the ex-Fata has been one of the major demands of members of the civil society and the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM).