Falklands is cleared of landmines, 38 years on

THE Falkland Islands have finally been cleared of landmines, more than 38 years after the war ended.

Islanders will mark the occasion on Saturday with a ceremonial detonation of the final mine and cricket and football matches on reopened beaches. The legacy of the conflict with Argentina put large areas of the islands off-limits.

The UK-funded programme, carried out by a Zimbabwean team, started in 2009. Foreign Office minister Wendy Morton called it ‘a huge achievement’.

There are now no antipersonnel mines on British soil.