Between 2003 and 2023, according to the National Center Against Explosive Devices and Mines of the National Army (CENAM), 8,139 people have been victims of anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices.
Today, April 4, is the International Day for Awareness against Anti-Personnel Mines, and the National Army continues to fight against this problem that has cut the dreams of hundreds of Colombians, mostly soldiers who work for the security and tranquility of the most remote areas of the national territory.
On this unfortunate panorama of attacks by anti-personnel mines, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace of the Presidency of the Republic reports that from January 1990 to February 28, 2023, 12,322 victims of anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance have been reported. The institution in the same way states that so far this year there have been 21 victims including military and civilians.
In 2023, two soldiers have been killed and nine others injured due to the use of anti-personnel mines, which were carrying out military operations to raise the security of Colombians, in addition to the ten soldiers who were killed and the other twenty injured by improvised explosive devices.
In the last decade, this silent enemy of the Colombian people, according to the National Center against Explosive Devices and Mines of the National Army, has caused the death of 1715 military personnel, but, in addition, it has left indelible wounds the bodies of another 6417 members of the institution.
To counteract this complex situation, the National Army has been carrying out military demining tasks throughout the country, to prevent more Colombians from falling into these devices. Between 2003 and 2023, the threat of 292,795 improvised explosive devices was neutralized, 3260 of them this year.
During this period, the departments in which our military has suffered the greatest loss from anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices are Antioquia, Meta, Norte de Santander, Caquetá and Arauca.
As of December 2022, within this universe of military personnel hit by explosive devices, 2,954 military personnel and their families have been included in the Unique Registry for Victims of the Unit for Victims.
Source: Press – National Army
