Army Starts Destroying Land Mines for Treaty

Bangladeshi army explosives experts began destroying land mines to comply with an international treaty banning the weapons, which kill or maim thousands of civilians worldwide every year.

In controlled explosions at a military demolition range near the capital, Dhaka, the specialists blasted 750 mines as army officials, diplomats, journalists and a few villagers watched.

Bangladesh's stockpile of 200,000 mines will be destroyed over the next four months except for 15,000 that the army will use for training, officials said.