Gambia destroys internationally banned weapons

By Mustapha Darboe A number of ‘internationally banned weapons, such as Anti Personal Mines’ were destroyed recently by the West African Regional forces in The Gambia, ECOMIG, in collaboration with Gambia Armed Forces,” Major Salifu Ngom, spokesperson of ECOMIG confirmed to The Standard. Experts on the subject said Anti-personnel mines are designed for use against humans as oppose to vehicles but they are often designed to injure, not kill, their victims in order to increase the logistical— mostly medical— support required by enemy forces that encounter them.. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines has sought to ban it which culminated into the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, although this treaty has not yet been accepted by a number of countries but Gambia has ratified it in 2002. In accordance with the rules and regulations of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, commonly known as the Ottawa Convention or the Ottawa Treaty, the new Gambian authorities have decided to comply with international regulations on antipersonnel mines with the technical support of the Economic Community of West African States Mission in the Gambia (ECOMIG) by destroying their stock of these dangerous and prohibited devices,” Major Ngom said in a statement sent to The Standard. “Thus, the demolition process started over the weekend in a village called Palodi, located about twenty Kilometers South-east of Farafenni”, Major Ngom further disclosed. Ngom would not comment on the quantity of the mines as at now that are being destroyed but said they should not have been here since the country ratified the treaty that sought to destroy them. “Anti-Personal Mines are very dangerous. They are being destroyed alongside RPG 7. There are others too but I can’t specifically say but the most important thing is the Anti-Personal Mines,” Ngom told The Standard over the phone. There has been no official confirmation from the Gambia Armed forces about their participation in this exercise.]]>