In northern Sri Lanka, an area largely avoided by the 2 million tourists who visit the island every year, an organization has safely removed its 300,000th landmine leftover from the island’s civil war.

Those mines and unexploded bombs were cleared across an area 33% larger than the island of Manhattan, and their removal allowed for the repopulation of a quarter-million people to their lands and homes.

War is the health of the state and the scourge of everyone else. Nothing epitomizes war’s destructive legacy more than landmines and unexploded bombs, which have terrorized the populations of dozens of countries for decades.

Sri Lanka’s civil war lasted for more than 30 years, as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil fought the forces of the central government across the northern and eastern provinces. When the war ended in 2009, The HALO Trust, a British nonprofit that works to clear landmines from conflict areas, was already on the ground helping to remove the unexploded ordnance from the country.

Over the years, in the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, and Vavuniya, work continued slowly to safely detonate or disarm mines and ordnance where people used to live and farm.

16 years later, on June 18th, the trust announced it had reached a milestone of 300,000 mines removed, and 120 square kilometers of land rendered safe and useable again.

“Thanks to HALO, over 280,000 former internally displaced persons have now returned safely to their homes and most of the land is clear,” said the trust in a press release.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Drones Find Dozens of Landmines Littering Ukraine So They Can Be Defused

“HALO and other demining operators continue to work at pace to clear the remaining contaminated areas to fully open up the pristine north of the island to tourists who flock to Sri Lanka every year, netting the country more than $3bn in 2024.”

“These minefields were laid when I was still in primary school. I remember hearing about them in the newspapers,” Vithoozen Antony, Operations Manager, HALO Sri Lanka. “Today, I’m proud to be part of the team leading their clearance. Reaching the milestone of 300,000 landmines removed is not just a number; it represents lives saved and land returned to communities.”

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: US Donation Kicks Off Landmine Clearing in One of the Largest Conservation Areas in the World

HALO is the world’s largest landmine clearance organization, and its work is ongoing across the world. This month, it marked 550,000 mines and unexploded bombs cleared in Cambodia since 1991.

SHARE This Wonderful Work Repairing Communities In War-Torn Sir Lanka…