Sudan, since 2006

ArmorGroup Mine Action’s substantial team, which includes around 200 Sudanese deminers, surveyors and support staff, is carrying out a land mine survey and UXO clearance programme in support of the UN’s mission in Southern Sudan. For more details please click here.

Mozambique, since 1995

AGMA has had a well established country office in Mozambique for over 12 years. The office supports AGMA’s numerous mine action operations as well as many of its overseas mine clearance programmes, through the provision of professional deminers trained by the AGMA Mozambique team.

AGMA has undertaken many projects across Mozambique, providing explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), UXO clearance, and mine survey and clearance services using all methodologies. Its clients which have included: the oil & gas industry; reconstruction contractors; the National Demining Institute; UNOMOZ; UNICEF; the German Agency for Technical Co-operation; and other NGOs providing humanitarian assistance services.

• work undertaken for the oil & gas industry has included: risk mitigation through EOD and mine survey work as a precursor to seismic surveys; clearance of seismic lines (2D and 3D) including bush clearance of thousands of km for the line work; and clearance of pipeline routes and processing facility sites.
• provide technical and logistical support to the UN Accelerated Demining Programme and to the National Demining Institute.

Ethiopia, 2004 - 2005

As a result of the Eritrean conflict and the subsequent war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the border area of both countries is heavily contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance. AGMA provided the Ethiopian Mine Action Office (EMAO) with three Mine Detection Dog (MDD) teams, to carry out technical surveys and conduct quality control on areas cleared by national manual and/or mechanical teams.

This was the first MDD capacity employed by the EMAO and it proved a great success with the teams clearing and releasing over one million square metres of land for use by the local population. On conclusion of the initial contract, AGMA’s trainer remained in country to build a national MDD handler capacity and to maintain the MDD’s level of training and operational readiness. All MDDs were donated to the EMAO when ArmorGroup left Ethiopia.

Libya, 2005

Much of Libya’s landmine contamination is a result of the desert battles of the Second World War. While there are broad-based maps of general threat areas, these are not precise. AGMA conducted a General Mine Action Assessment (GMAA) of suspected mined areas from World War II within a major international oil and gas company’s Exploration Blocks, prior to seismic acquisition operations. AGMA tasks included:

• analysis of historical records
• verifying existing reports
• conduct of fieldwork to confirm the presence of minefields
• identifying risks to seismic acquisition operations
• recommending actions to be taken where necessary.

Senegal, 2005

An AGMA consultant was deployed to Senegal to conduct an assessment for the employment of integrated manual, MDD and mechanical clearance assets, with an emphasis on identifying the real danger areas. Recommendations and advice were given to the Government and main opposition party in Senegal on the technologies, methodologies and capabilities for an integrated demining programme based on the results of the assessment as well as national requirements.

Angola, 1995

AGMA was involved in the technical survey and clearance of an area where mines and booby traps had been laid and overlaid by both UNITA and government forces in the Cafuno region of Angola. There were no reliable records of mined locations and due to the high level of metallic contamination, the use of metal detectors was precluded. As a result, AGMA had to rely on traditional methods of prodding and excavation to solve the problem.

A further project in Luanda in 1995 resulted in the clearance and disposal of UXO of a 10,000 square meter area, allowing the land to be returned to productive use.