The Italian army’s Julia Alpine brigade removed the munitions, which had emerged after ice melted in the Dolomites (Italian Army)
The Italian Army’s Julia Alpine Brigade recovered and neutralised the munitions during a clearance operation that ended on October 16, according to CNN. The weapons date back to the White War, fought between Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces in the Alps from 1915 to 1918, when soldiers battled in some of Europe’s harshest mountain terrain.
The first find of the summer was a 90-millimetre mortar shell discovered in June near Caldonazzo after a car rolled down a ravine. The country’s explosive ordnance disposal service responds to more than 3,000 calls a year and disposes of 200 to 250 tonnes of munitions left over from both world wars, according to the Associated Press.
The army’s specialist bomb-disposal team subsequently removed it, while the wider clearance operation involved working at high altitudes and across difficult mountain terrain, according to CNN. Authorities said the heat had caused some buried shells to explode, alerting them to the hidden weapons. The cache included French and German mortar shells, as well as other ammunition.