Mozambique is reported to have removed the last remaining landmine planted during the deadly civil war that took place from 1977 to 1992.

According to the BBC, Halo Trust, a British de-mining charity organisation funded by the U.S and U.K. governments and which has worked in the country since 1993, was able to remove the landmines in conjunction with other nongovernmental organisation.

“The charity says it is the first large mine-contaminated country to be completely cleared of mines,” the BBC said.

“The last mine was removed from the base of a railway bridge in the centre of the country.”

Long after the civil war that followed Mozambique’s independence from Portugal, the mines continued to cause fatalities and injuries, keeping people away from accessing and cultivating large areas of the country’s fertile land. Halo Trust also lost four workers in the course of its work.

“You don’t forget the sight of someone freshly injured from an anti-personnel land mine blast. These cruel weapons are designed to deny territory to “the enemy” but invariably it is ordinary civilians, including children, who pay the heaviest price,” BBC’s Karen Allen said from the scene where the last landmine was detonated.

It is hoped that the success recorded in Mozambique robs off on similar works going on other countries, such as Sri Lanka, Laos, Angola and Colombia.