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Created by and for survivors, LSN empowers individuals and communities affected by landmines to recover from trauma, reclaim their lives and fulfill their rights.
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World Landmine News
LSN Witnesses Destruction of Jordan APM Stockpile
Today the Jordanian Royal Corps of Engineers (RCoE) destroyed 10,000 anti-personnel landmines (APMs), as Jordan works toward completing its four-year deadline for stockpile destruction. All the mines destroyed today were American-made M14 mines.
On hand to witness the destruction were members of the Landmine Survivors Network\'s (LSN) Washington and Jordan staff, as well as LSN Co-founder and Executive Director Jerry White. Members of the LSN Board of Directors will join Jerry in Jordan later this week to visit survivors and take a closer look at all aspects of mine action.
At the end of the ceremony, Jerry congratulated the RCoE for their progress and leadership in the field of demining, and pledged to advocate for increased funding in the region. \"Today we are 10,000 mines closer to His Majesty King Hussein\'s vision of a mine free Jordan. Soon people will again be able to walk this land once walked by the prophets, without fear.\"
Jordan\'s landmine problem once totaled over 305,000 mines laid in approximately 497 minefields along the northern and western borders - primarily in the Jordan Valley and along Jordan\'s border with Israel. Since the national demining program began in 1993, 116 minefields containing 84,157 mines and covering eight million square meters of land have been cleared. Since the end of the 1967 war, there have been several hundred reported mine casualties. A significant portion of these casualties has been and continues to be civilians.
Jordan is on schedule to have its remaining 22,000 APMs destroyed by April 1, 2003, and demining completed by 2015. With increased funding and equipment, the RCoE believes they could have Jordan demined by 2010, or perhaps even 2006. The RCoE works closely with LSN, providing a military landmine survivor to work on staff as an outreach worker providing service to LSN\'s military survivors.
Posted: Monday, October 21, 2002
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