Kapilvastu, November 11:

As many as 100 incidents of landmine explosions took place in Kapilvastu district from February 2002 to 2005, killing five civilians and 22 security personnel, said the Ban Landmine Campaign, Kapilvastu.The district facilitator of the campaign, Sundar Pandey, said 15 civilians and 30 security personnel were hurt in those blasts.Noting that the use of landmine is prohibited in most countries, Pandey said civilians, including children, who had nothing to do with the conflict had been caught in landmine blasts. He said all sectors should exert pressure so as to ban the use of landmine. Children of 15 schools had taken part in programmes that were organised sometime ago to disseminate information about the threat posed by landmine and safety measures, Pandey said.

Stating that the conflict had fuelled the use of landmine, the chief district officer, Deepak Kumar Joshi, said all sectors must take initiatives for resolving the conflict.

The INSEC district representative, Nanda Ram Poudel, said the danger of landmine blasts will prevail unless the armed conflict continues.

Nepal has not yet signed the international treaty banning landmine yet. Altogether 152 nations have signed the treaty.