International campaigners urged Bosnia and Croatia today to step up efforts to rid their territories of land mines, which have killed hundreds of people in the two countries over the past 13 years, according to AP. «There is much more work to be done in Bosnia and Croatia and their governments should really be focusing on how to combine the international assistance with their efforts,» said Kerry Brinkert, head of the Geneva-based Mine Ban Convention Implementation Support Unit. He said Bosnia was a more serious case than Croatia, as it suffered greater funding problems. Both Balkan countries have hundreds of square kilometers contaminated with anti-personnel mines dating from the wars that followed the collapse of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Although 965 square miles (2,500 sq. kilometers) have been cleared in Bosnia since 1999, an estimated 656 sq. miles (1,700 sq. kilometers) remain contaminated. Mines have claimed 464 lives in the country since 1996. In Croatia, where land mines have killed 68 people since 1999, about 367 square miles (950 sq. kilometers) remain uncleared.
