Two hurt in border minefield
Two illegal immigrants were injured by a land mine after entering a minefield on the northeastern border with Turkey, the army said yesterday. The army said that the two men, of Iraqi and Palestinian origin, entered the fenced minefield on Wednesday night and were rescued early yesterday. «The minefield has the necessary signs in Greek and in English and has two sets of fences,» the army said. The migrants, both aged 30, were hospitalized in the nearby town of Didymoteicho but the extent of their injuries was not made clear. Since the start of the year, five immigrants have been injured and four have been killed in similar incidents in the area, a popular crossing point for Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants trying to reach Europe. The Greek army has said that it will clean up the anti-personnel mines by 2010 – four years before an international treaty deadline. There are an estimated 25,000 mines in the area, according to anti-land-mine campaigners.
