Munitions endanger Iraqi children

Children are most likely victims of unexploded munitions

Children in Iraq are endangering their lives on a daily basis as they strip dumped ammunitions for copper to sell for food, according to aid agencies.

At least six children were killed and seven wounded while dismantling a rocket in Missan governorate, southern Iraq, on Monday.

One aid worker told BBC News Online that unless the UN and coalition forces resolve their differences and work together in a co-ordinated effort, the death toll will rise.

The country is over-run with arms stockpiled by the Saddam Hussein regime and unexploded munitions from the recent war, said Christian Aid's Dominic Nutt from Iraq.

It is a mammoth task - with a large country to cover and not enough people to do the job

Aid worker Dominic Nutt

He said fearful locals are trying to get rid of them, by putting caches in rivers or burying them - making the chances of finding and defusing them even harder for mine clearance workers.

Children who plunder ordnance dumps for brass and copper are leaving the ammunition dangerously exposed - able to be detonated by the 40 degree heat alone.

"The Iraqis have lived with weapons for a very long time, so they are aware of the dangers and have been alerting us to stashed weapons and ammunition," said Mr Nutt.

"But it is a mammoth task - with a large country to cover and there is not enough people here to do the job. As time goes on, the potential for further disasters is increasing."

'Loggerheads'

Mr Nutt said the problem was exacerbated by the current deadlock between the UN and the Coalition over who should run the country.

"I was in a town 240 kilometres (150 miles) north of Basra, which has democratically elected its own town council," he said.

Coalition forces urged to do more about unexploded ordnance

"They are all highly intelligent, educated people who want to get on with sorting out the rubbish, the water situation and the question of ammunitions.

"But they have no power and cannot get any money because the UN and coalition are at loggerheads".

The British Ministry of Defence says it is working hard to try and identify the sites and clear them.

Major Cameron Day said the British army had already identified 350 unexploded ordnance sites in the governorate of Missan and cleared 230.

They say they are also sending out "explosive ordnance teams" to identify sites and are trying to raise awareness of the problem by visiting schools.

International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman, Tamar al-Rifai, told BBC News Online that Iraqi doctors were efficiently treating accidental blast victims and Iraqi hospitals were sufficiently equipped to cope with such casualties.