Int'l Red Cross to Clear Explosives from Sirte, Bani Walid
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday it will begin this week to clear unexploded munitions in Libya's Bani Walid and Sirte, where several civilians have been hurt or killed by explosives.
"The ICRC will clear unexploded munitions in Sirte and Bani Walid, focusing on the contaminated areas that pose the greatest threat to civilians, especially some of the least destroyed neighborhoods where people are attempting to return to their homes," said the relief agency in a statement.
ICRC expert Guy Marto said there have been several confirmed casualties in Sirte, including an eight-year-old girl who lost her arm while playing with an explosive device.
"Our immediate goal is to ensure that further deaths and injuries among civilians are kept to an absolute minimum," he said.
In Zlitan, to the west of Misrata, some 30 people have been hit by weapons in farmlands and other parts of the region.
The relief agency has cleared almost 1,400 warheads, munitions, grenades and mortar shells across Libya since March.
Bani Walid and Sirte were the last towns loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to fall to the revolutionaries after bitter fighting.
Source: Agence France Presse
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