mines buried during the war of the Sahara are a danger for the Sahrawi people
estimated along the wall is buried about ten million of these devices
A group of activators Mine walks on dangerous ground line near the town of Tifariti, with limited means and experience and caution
IS a scary feeling. When the ground you walk on the platform on which you move, when your whole habitat becomes unstable and dangerous, your life becomes a macabre lottery at best can lead to an ongoing state of schizophrenia. In the Sahara, thousands of people are gripped by the silent threat and groundwater, and a few dozen dedicated body and soul to eradicate: they are the teams off.
Ever since the first victim of mine, back in November 1975 (coinciding with Moroccan invasion), the number of dead and wounded who have collected artifacts has not stopped growing. Since the cease-fire, 44 people have fallen victim to these traps underground and unpredictable.
Nobody knows the exact number of mines have been planted along the defensive wall that the Moroccan army built in the 80's. While some studies speak a hundred thousand units, the least optimistic (including experts from the Pentagon -EE.UU. -) raise this figure to ten million. Thus, some NGOs put the African country in the Top Ten of the countries most contaminated by this type of explosives, competing with areas like Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Angola or Bosnia-Herzegovina.
A recent study estimates that in the Sahara can be counted more than 53 models of antipersonnel and antitank mines, a sum that represents almost 20% of all types and models of known mines in the history of mankind. Most mines are hidden in Saharan soil from Italy, Belgium and France, although not the only providers (Spain is also among them.) Cold sweat
The distilled by the de-miners is not a normal sweat. Mata Mulana discovers Sidi, who has spent four years as coordinator of the four brigades operating in the deactivation mines in the territories liberated by the Polisario, about 18 miles from the Moroccan Wall. "With the summer heat becomes unbearable this work. The normal sweat is hot, but sometimes you realize that you sweat out is cool, I guess that's the tension," says military boasting a perfect English. Sidi
works for Landmine Action, a British NGO that since 2006 is trying to demine one of the harshest deserts on Earth and unpredictable. "It's terrible, do not know how many mines are buried here, although we have some fairly rigorous studies conducted over the past years. But in some places are of little use, because rainfall and dunes with the wind change places, and with them the mines. Our best detectors are nomads and animals that go with them, "he laments.
Sidi is in charge of demining the region of Tifariti, a small village lost in the desert that is 500 kilometers from the refugee camps of Tindouf ( Algeria). Tifariti is a historic place for the Sahrawi people. There was fought one of the fiercest fighting of the last war, made landfall there the first refugees who fled the Moroccan offensive, and that they want to return when the conflict ends. It is the land left behind, the perennial desire of all Saharawi.
Sidi has a team of eleven people to carry out their dangerous work, is charged with eight operators (two women), a driver, a deputy and a doctor, all military or former military. In the past four years have cleared 80,000 square meters of land, an area ten times larger than the entire Basque Country. The work is hard, slow and dangerous: "We are moving soon and we'll always protected by a vest, which is more placebo effect than anything else, because if one of these mines explodes while you are manipulating ... They can reach a radius of hundred meters. Imagine. Little can be done. Fortunately we have not had to mourn victims in these four years, because security measures are extreme. "
Right. The "contaminated" areas are marked with ropes and stakes of colors, depending on their dangerousness. Then go locating mines or bombs, and the third phase are destroyed or disabled. "Some can not turn them off and they put an explosive charge to destroy them," said the soldier. Operators work
sausages in a heavy blue jacket and head protection be worn a white helmet. Anyway, the red couch lying along the activators no longer a disturbing element. "The Tifariti hospital is two hours from here, and if someone is injured must be addressed immediately," says the head of the camp, "by that we carry with us a doctor and enough material to cover an injured right away. "
The first error is the last
" Now we will walk in single file. Do not touch anything and if something explodes, do not move. "Indications of Sidi Mulana not reassure anyone, and are a true reflection of the danger these people every day." In our group we have had no accidents, and more so, because Here the first error may be the last, "says the military off the gesture of one who has seen almost everything. He adds:" Every year we know of an incident, and we must work towards this end. We are proud to serve our country. Some day we will return to this earth and then we want everything to be clean, so that our people do not take more risk and do not suffer anymore than it already has had to suffer. "
What remains is a lot, but are prepared for the huge task: "The desert is full of junk, and clean everything is going to take decades. Think we can clear an area of \u200b\u200babout 25 square meters per hour. That for the bombs, but if what we are trying to defuse mines, the work slows down and we need a whole day to the same space. Sometimes there is a bomb, is another metal object, but you have to treat it like a bomb and every action takes a long time, "describes Sidi.
The Tifariti team members work for two months straight, Monday to Sunday, eight hours a day, and after two weeks rest, while taking advantage to visit their families, who are scattered in camps in Tindouf. Sidi is keen to return with his wife, who welcomed the work of her husband. "I'd rather not talk about it," spits the Saharawi military while walking on the slate floor, always with his head slanted down and the gesture of someone seeking ghosts among the rocks.
source: deia. Com
0 comments:
Post a Comment