Pyla minefield cleared

THE NATIONAL Guard yesterday detonated the last mine in a minefield close to the mixed village of Pyla near Larnaca.

The detonation took place 10 minutes before 11am, while soldiers sealed off the surrounding area and directed traffic towards other roads.

A fire engine and ambulance were kept nearby in case of emergency.

The former minefield will be handed over to the community after the National Guard has completed all the necessary safety checks.

The Defence Ministry Spokesman was not available for comment yesterday.

The government pledged early last year to clear three minefields around the village by the end of 2001.

According to the 2001 Landmine Monitor report, the buffer zone dividing the island since the Turkish invasion in 1974 contains an estimated 17,000 antipersonnel and antitank mines, “described as equivalent to one every ten strides along its 180-kilometre length”.

UNFICYP estimated that the total number of minefields in the buffer zone was 48, with additional mined areas on either side of the zone.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.