It’s been over 80 years since the United States and Allied forces fought Japan in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Today, communities in the Solomon Islands are still dealing with the unexploded devices that were left behind.
A major battle of World War II has left thousands of unexploded shells and bombs scattered on the islands today.
In 2021, one person was killed and several others were injured in the Solomon Islands' capital of Honiara when a U.S. Army shell exploded. In 2020, two aid agency workers were killed while looking for the decades-old munitions.
A humanitarian group called the Halo Trust has been surveying the Pacific nation's airfields and former military camps since 2023. It has found about 600 hazardous areas.
Program manager Chris Teasdale told Radio New Zealand that after unexploded devices are discovered, the police often turn up "within a few hours" to dispose of them. He added that education for residents on how to deal with the items they find is helping as well.
Last August, about 200 U.S. military shells were removed from a school site.
Teasdale said removing unexploded devices in the Solomon Islands will likely take years.
