IDF officer loses foot in landmine explosion in Golan Heights
As many as 100,000 landmines laid during the 1950s and 1960s are estimated to be found in the Golan Heights; officer's condition unknown.
By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPINIDF soldiers near the border with Syria in the Golan Heights (photo credit: REUTERS)
An IDF officer sustained a serious wound to her leg in a land-mine explosion on the northern Golan Heights on Wednesday while she was carrying out work near the border fence with Syria.An army source said the mine appeared to have been swept from its original location by weather conditions, describing the blast as accidental. She was transported by helicopter to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. The IDF was investigating the circumstances of the incident.As many as 100,000 land mines laid during the 1950s and 1960s are estimated to be found on the Golan Heights.Several Israelis have been wounded by land mines over the years.The Knesset passed the Minefield Clearance Act in 2011 to set up an authority which began clearing mines in 2012.The incident came after an IDF soldier was wounded in an accidental ammunition explosion at a base in Tel Arad in the South on Tuesday.
