A legacy of decades of war left Mozambique so riddled with landmines that the country estimated it would take 100 years to clear them. In early September, however, after just 22 years the nation was declared landmine-free by charity organisation Halo Trust.
Halo began operations in Mozambique in 1993, when landmines were responsible for about 600 deaths per year. Since then, the organisation has destroyed more than 170 000 landmines and cleared nearly 1 120 minefields (almost four-fifths of the total removed by all de-mining operators).
The cost was estimated in 2012 at US$285 million, according to the Guardian. In the final leg of the de-mining process – at the Dondo bridges and viaducts in the Sofala province – Halo destroyed 314 mines and cleared five minefields spanning 36 000 m2.
