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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
Two children killed, four injured in India landmine blast - Agence France Press
JODHPUR, India (AFP) - Two children were killed and four injured when discarded landmines they were handling exploded in India\'s desert state of Rajasthan, police said.
The children found the mines on Thursday in a rubbish dump in the western border town of Kolu Pabuji, 150 kilometers (93 miles) north of Jodhpur city.
\"Two children died on the spot and four were injured when they were looking at the mines and passing them around,\" local police chief Vishal Bansal said on Friday.
\"We are carrying out investigations into the accident. It could have been old landmines discarded by the army,\" he added.
Hundreds of thousands of mines were laid by the Indian army in Rajasthan during a 10-month stand-off with archrival Pakistan after an attack on India\'s parliament in December 2001.
New Delhi blamed the attack on two Pakistan-backed Islamic militant groups battling New Delhi\'s rule in Indian-Kashmir (news - web sites) and deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to the country\'s western desert border with Pakistan and to Kashmir.
While there are no reliable figures on the number of mines planted during the deployment, New York-based Human Rights Watch has said India and Pakistan together had conducted one of the biggest mining operations since the 1997 Ottawa mine ban treaty, which neither country has signed.
In December 2003, former defence minister George Fernandes admitted that more than 80 Indian army personnel had been killed in demining operations and Rajasthan had not received enough funds to take care of its landmine disaster bill.
Posted: Wednesday, February 2, 2005
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