Norwegians searching for cluster munitions in Sjenica

JAGODINA/SJENICA - Professionals with the Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) tasked with demining started on Tuesday searching the site in the area of Sjenica suspected of having around one million square meters contaminated with cluster munitions, Director of the Serbian Mine Action Center Branislav Jovanovic said.

The search of the area is being financed by the United States government through the International Trust Fund (ITF) for Demining and Mine Victims' Assistance, he said.

Thanks to the donations from the Russian Federation and the United States, nearly 11 million square meters have so far been demined and cleared in Serbia, Jovanovic said, noting that cluster munitions still contaminate around six million square meters of land.

During the bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, NATO dropped cluster bombs at "several hundred locations in 15 municipalities in Serbia, not including municipalities in Kosovo-Metohija".

Photo Tanjug, D. Anicic (archive photo, illustration)