1.GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR IED CLEARANCE
Image 3. Location of a detonator lead by a mine action IEDD operator
IED search and disposal operations have traditionally been activities conducted by security forces during armed conflict. MA organisations must carefully consider the security envelope in which they operate at the cessation of hostilities, to maintain the humanitarian principle of neutrality. If the security environment is not understood, then MA staff could become the target of state / non-state armed groups. While it is recognised that MA organisations may be present in places where there is a risk of attack from a NSAG, the intended target has passed (surveillance is highly unlikely) and the IED becomes an obstacle to development and humanitarian goals. Only when there is a combination of an adequately secure environment (within which it is possible to operate in accordance with established humanitarian principles), and a type of IED for which the organisation has the necessary skills, equipment and procedures to render safe, is it appropriate to proceed. Decisions about when it is appropriate for MA organisations to engage with IEDs, and about what types of IED they are equipped and competent to address, relate to the MA operating envelope described above. This is wholly dependent upon threat assessment.
General considerations for IED clearance
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