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In Pictures
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The Curse of the Sands
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In 1942 one of the largest tank battles of the second world war took place in the desert of el-Alamein in north Egypt Montgomerys Desert Rats and his allies broke through German lines, pushing Rommels forces back to Tunisia Wherever the armies of the Axis powers and the Allies clashed in the deserts of North Africa, they tried to limit each others mobility by laying minefields With no natural barriers in the desert, Rommel ordered half a million mines to be laid at the coastal town of el-Alamein, and the British reportedly laid even more Today, Egypt ranks as one of the most heavily mined countries in the world Many mines remain buried in the desert and continue to claim victims The area is home to Bedouin nomads and many local villagers - along with their children – are hurt and sometimes killed when they come across the landmines Aseker was with her daughter grazing the cattle when a landmine exploded In the hospital, her father asked the docters to save her food, but it was badly wounded Eisa was tending his sheep when the mine exploded. He did not know there were landmines in the region Marwa was playing in the fields with her friends. Some people had discovered a bomb and put a stone on top of it. She thought it was a ball and kicked it When she woke up her leg was gone. She says it does not hurt. She can play but she has to walk slowly Abd Allah was ploughing when the mine exploded. Before the accident he worked all the time but after the explosion his whole life changed and his dreams were destroyed Salems accident happened in a place they call the Italian Gate, south of el-Sallom. The front tyre of the car had passed over a mine. Now he drives with one hand During the war of 1942 Sultan was only ten years old. He remembers that they used to play with the landmines and used to throw them at each other But after some of the mines exploded they were told not to go these areas Of the victims, there are 639 survivors, three percent of them are children Egypt is stepping up efforts to provide assistance to landmine victims and to clear unexploded ordnance For Fathy el-Shazly, the director of the countrys demining project, the biggest challenge is to increase awareness of landmines, because many people do not know the danger Some people think they can sell the mines as scrap metal or use them as cooking pots The current healthcare system does not cover the provision of prosthetic limbs. So now they provide 80 victims with new limbs and training Abd el-Fattah has lost his leg while he was playing football As part of the national demining project, he has been chosen by the Agouza Centre to get artificial limbs of the highest quality The Egyptian government has plans to boost tourism and farming in the region. But first they have to continue clearing the estimated 17 million landmines hidden in the sand
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The Curse of the Sands
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In 1942 one of the largest tank battles of the second world war took place in the desert of el-Alamein in north Egypt;*;Montgomerys Desert Rats and his allies broke through German lines, pushing Rommels forces back to Tunisia;*;Wherever the armies of the Axis powers and the Allies clashed in the deserts of North Africa, they tried to limit each others mobility by laying minefields;*;With no natural barriers in the desert, Rommel ordered half a million mines to be laid at the coastal town of el-Alamein, and the British reportedly laid even more;*;Today, Egypt ranks as one of the most heavily mined countries in the world;*;Many mines remain buried in the desert and continue to claim victims;*;The area is home to Bedouin nomads and many local villagers - along with their children – are hurt and sometimes killed when they come across the landmines;*;Aseker was with her daughter grazing the cattle when a landmine exploded;*;In the hospital, her father asked the docters to save her food, but it was badly wounded;*;Eisa was tending his sheep when the mine exploded. He did not know there were landmines in the region;*;Marwa was playing in the fields with her friends. Some people had discovered a bomb and put a stone on top of it. She thought it was a ball and kicked it;*;When she woke up her leg was gone. She says it does not hurt. She can play but she has to walk slowly;*;Abd Allah was ploughing when the mine exploded. Before the accident he worked all the time but after the explosion his whole life changed and his dreams were destroyed;*;Salems accident happened in a place they call the Italian Gate, south of el-Sallom. The front tyre of the car had passed over a mine. Now he drives with one hand;*;During the war of 1942 Sultan was only ten years old. He remembers that they used to play with the landmines and used to throw them at each other;*;But after some of the mines exploded they were told not to go these areas;*;Of the victims, there are 639 survivors, three percent of them are children;*;Egypt is stepping up efforts to provide assistance to landmine victims and to clear unexploded ordnance;*;For Fathy el-Shazly, the director of the countrys demining project, the biggest challenge is to increase awareness of landmines, because many people do not know the danger;*;Some people think they can sell the mines as scrap metal or use them as cooking pots;*;The current healthcare system does not cover the provision of prosthetic limbs. So now they provide 80 victims with new limbs and training;*;Abd el-Fattah has lost his leg while he was playing football;*;As part of the national demining project, he has been chosen by the Agouza Centre to get artificial limbs of the highest quality;*;The Egyptian government has plans to boost tourism and farming in the region. But first they have to continue clearing the estimated 17 million landmines hidden in the sand
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