Crates of explosives are destroyed several times a week. It s a crisp fall Sunday outside Camp Monteith in the war-torn province of Kosovo. A light breeze blows and the birds cry noisily as they fly south for the winter. Then, like a bolt of lightning, there s a flash quickly followed by the thunder of high explosives. Unlike the smaller explosions still heard at night in the nearby city of Gnjilane, this one takes place in broad daylight, and is powerful enough to suck the air from your lungs while shaking the ground hundreds of meters in all directions.
More explosions come quickly half a dozen in as many minutes.
But there are no screams, no sirens and no alerts. These are the sounds of Kosovo becoming just a little bit safer. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 8 wait the prescribed safety time, then head down into the quarry to check the effect of blasts. They have destroyed a wide range of items discovered or seized in the previous weeks, including piles of anti-personnel mines, CS and fragmentation grenades, ammo, magazines and dummies. Also destroyed were half a dozen cannon balls from a war long past.