According to the National Center Against Explosive Devices and Mines of the National Army (CENAM), 1,698 soldiers have died due to these devices beaten 2003 and March 2022. This year, there are already 8 military killed and 56 who have been wounded.
In the framework of the commemoration of April 4, International Day for Awareness on Anti-Personnel Mines, the National Army spares no effort to eradicate the problem of anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices on the national territory, this in order to prevent more members of the Institution and civilian personnel from continuing to be hit by this silent enemy.
The problem of anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance has left indelible scars on the lives of hundreds of Colombians and their families. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, between January 1990 and January 2022, 12,152 victims of these devices have been reported. The use of those elements violates International Humanitarian Law and violates Human Rights. According to the institution, of this unfortunate statistic, 7,286 of the injured or deceased are members of the Military Forces and 4,866 are part of the civilians, of which 11,545 are victims of anti-personnel mines.
For its part, the National Center Against Explosive Devices and Mines of the National Army (CENAM), indicates that 7,988 soldiers have been victims of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), anti-personnel mines (MAP), booby traps and launching means, among other devices of destruction of manual manufacture, between 2003 and 2022. To date, 6,290 members of the Institution have been reported injured and 1,698 killed because of the use of means and methods of war, prohibited by the Ottawa Convention.
One victim of these improvised explosive devices is Soldier Brayan Jair Gueitio Ipia, who on August 29, 2020 stepped on an anti-personnel mine that destroyed his right foot when military operations were being carried out in Tumaco, Nariño.
The soldier recalls that. “…the day before we could not move much because of the anti-personnel mines. On Saturday we left at 6 in the morning to eradicate as every day, they sent me to provide security with another colleague about 200 meters from where we were and unfortunately there I stepped on the mine.”
After the unfortunate episode, the soldier says that this action was not only dramatic for him and his relatives, but in the same way for his comrades. “That was a very hard moment, I thought a lot about my family, I thought a lot about God and about enduring until I could be transferred to a hospital. At that moment, my companions, in the midst of sadness, proceeded to enter where I had been lying to give me first aid. My foot hung up on nothing. This hit my family very hard.”
The Soldier Gueitio Ipia currently belongs to the League of Athletes with Disabilities where he practices the discipline of adapted Fencing and one of his dreams is to enter a university to study business administration and thus continue his comprehensive rehabilitation process.
Between 2003 and 2022, the National Army has neutralized the threat of 285,192 explosive devices in the country, of which 3,496 have been in this year.
Source: Press - National Army
