Colombia: May 18, 2004

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FARC has greatly increased its use of landmines in the last two years. In the last 18 months, 660 people (about 30 percent of them civilians) have been killed or wounded by FARC mines. Before 2002, there might a few dozen mine casualties a year. FARC is putting thousands of anti-personnel mines around its mountain camps, or to terrorize civilians in areas where FARC is not very popular. FARC does not keep good records of where it puts the mines, which means that unwary people will be getting hurt by the mines for years to come. The mines can be bought on the international arms market, usually illegally. Russia and China are still major manufacturers and exporters of mines. Most landmine deaths and injuries over the last few decades have been from Chinese and Russian mines. 

 

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