US Commits $5Mln To Clear Unexploded Cluster Bomblets In Kosovo - State Dept.

The US committed an additional $5 million to help Kosovo clear unexploded bomblets from cluster munitions and other remnants of war (ERW) over the next four years, the State Department announced in a press release on Thursday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th October, 2019) The US committed an additional $5 million to help Kosovo clear unexploded bomblets from cluster munitions and other remnants of war (ERW) over the next four years, the State Department announced in a press release on Thursday.

"Set to be implemented over four years (2020-2023), this assistance is expected to return at least 4.2 million square meters (1,060 acres) of hazardous land back to the people of Kosovo," the release said. "This is the largest single contribution of conventional weapons destruction funding from the United States in Kosovo.

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The $5 million brings the total US contribution to $9.7 million for Kosovo to address "the legacy of cluster munitions and ERW," the release said.

Much of Kosovo's cluster munition contamination is a consequence of 78 days of bombing by NATO in 1999, according to the HALO Trust, an organization that clears unexploded ordnance.

NATO launched air strikes to halt a campaign by the former Yugoslavia to expel ethnic Albanians from Kosovo.