A FARNHAM man has been killed in Southern Lebanon while clearing unexploded cluster bombs fired by the Israelis during their war with Hezbollah a year ago. Craig Appleby, who had just celebrated his 36th birthday, was near the town of Bint Jbeil when he received his fatal injuries and although he is the first British person to die clearing the area of unexploded bombs Craig is now the 13th person to be killed making safe the touch-sensitive devices since the end of the conflict. Mr Appleby had been in the highly dangerous field of bomb disposal for 10 years starting out as a British Army officer working as an instructor to British, NATO and other forces around the world. After leaving the forces two years ago he became a freelance explosive disposal adviser and trainer in places like Rwanda, Saudi Arabia and Libya. It is estimated that Israel fired around four million cluster bombs into Southern Lebanon during the conflict last year with a possible one million that failed to explode immediately according to UN-de- mining experts. Mr Appleby had only been working for the UK-based ArmorGroup Mine Action in Lebanon for a month when he was killed. The company is clearing the mines on behalf of the UN Mine Action Co-ordination Centre. A spokesman for ArmorGroup said: "We can confirm that on Thursday, October 11, Craig Appleby, a battle area clearance team leader, was conducting cluster munitions clearance operations on a site in Southern Lebanon, when a bomblet exploded and resulted in Craig sustaining fatal injuries. "At the time of the incident he was working on a battle area clearance programme funded by the United Arab Emirates in support of the UN's Mine Action Co-ordination Centre South Lebanon (MACC SL), based in Tyre. The programme was to clear unexploded ordnance (UXO) and cluster munitions left behind following the military action in the region last year. "Craig was a shining example of those who work in this highly dangerous field, without whom local communities are unable to rebuild their lives safely and confidently following armed conflict. Although he had only been with us for a short time he had already proved himself highly capable, an excellent leader and was well liked and respected by his team. "On behalf of ArmorGroup I would like to extend our deepest sympathy to Craig's family at the loss of a fine son, brother and friend and would like to confirm that the company is doing all that it can to work with the family in their hour of need." Craig's father David Appleby said that his son was a real hero, dedicated and experienced and who knew exactly what he was doing. He believed that Craig saved the lives of thousands of people he would never meet and now that he is gone there would sadly be more victims of these weapons.
