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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Authorities on Wednesday announced it has completed years long project to cleanse the Kingdom's borders with Syria and Israel from landmine fields, according to Prince Raad, head of the royal anti-mining commission.

He said that a total of 500 fields on the northern borders with Syria and the western border near Israel have been cleared. Hundreds of Jordanians have been killed or injured during the past few decades after being stricken by landmines near their residence.

The prince, however said threat of unexploded devices remains standing in conflict stricken areas across the kingdom. Towns near the border with Israel such as Karama, the ground for a major battle with Israel four decades ago have been badly affected by unexploded ordinance with local farmers and children worst affected.

The latest de-mining project took place at the northern borders with Syria, where the Jordanian army placed thousands of landmines in the late 1970s to ward off Syrian forces during tension between the two countries.

Officials from the EU, which supported part of the project, said Jordan will move ahead with development projects in the areas where the landmines existed as part of expansion scheme to capitalize on the kingdom's untapped resources.