Nicaragua is set to announce that it has removed all known remaining landmines left behind from its civil war in the 1980s between the Sandinistas and the US-backed Contras.

More than 180,000 mines from more than 1,000 minefields are believed to have been cleared – a success applauded by the international community.

But it has been a long and slow journey, with mines killing and maiming thousands of people in the country's central and northern highlands over the years.

And unregistered minefields and movements due to flooding and mudslides caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 mean that some mines may remain.

Ricardo Castillo reports from Managua.