Burao, Somaliland, 16 May 2008 - 5 people were killed and 7 others were wounded – two of them seriously – when the vehicle they were travelling in hit a land mine outside the village town of Duruqsi, about 120KM south of Burao city (Capital of the central region of Togdheer) late Thursday afternoon.

The village of Duruqsi is virtually on the Somaliland-Ethio borderline.

“The car was blown by a mine when it left the road just outside the village town of Duruqsi, because of heavy rains most of the countryside roads become unfit for vehicles to travel on,” sources said on Thursday night in Buroa.

According to Burao Hospital sources an ambulance carrying doctors accompanied the regional governor to the scene of the accident.

Demining agencies had declared this area to be free from mines, but some mines do go unseen by demining agencies and often become unearthed by heavy rains, in particular, the border area during rainy seasons.

Thousands of mines have been planted in different parts of Somaliland during the Ethio-Somalia border war in 1964, the 1977-78 war, the war against the regime of the Late Mohamed Siad Barre and the civil war of 1994-96.

Although thousands of mines have been cleared from the country, agencies say that it will take a long time to clear all mines from the country.

Sources: The Republican

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