More than 400 pieces of unexploded Second World War ordnance are being removed from a site in one of Kiribati’s most densely populated communities, in a joint operation aimed at making Betio safer for residents.
New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel have arrived in Tarawa to work with the Kiribati Police Service to clear the dangerous wartime munitions from Bonnyman’s Bunker in Betio township.
NZDF says the UXOs will be transported away from the community to an isolated, uninhabited sandbar, where they will be safely disposed of.
Its says the operation is being funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), with a Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130J Hercules bringing specialist personnel and equipment to Kiribati.
For people living and working in Betio, the operation removes a long-standing danger from an area surrounded by homes, public facilities and government buildings.
The government says the risks are familiar to communities in Kiribati where unexploded wartime weapons continue to be found during construction and infrastructure work.
New Zealand Defence Force personnel arrive in Tarawa to prepare specialist equipment to safely clear unexploded wartime ordnance in Kiribati. Photo/NZDF
In 2025, Kiribati Police Inspector Bwaaia warned residents to keep away from a UXO site and follow police instructions while explosives experts worked to remove the weapon.
The munitions have remained in Kiribati more than 80 years after the Second World War, with unexploded weapons posing a risk of accidental detonation as they deteriorate.
They can also damage the environment, including through contamination of soil and local water supplies.
New Zealand and Kiribati are working together to clear dangerous Second World War-era unexploded ordnance from the densely populated Betio area. Photo/NZ High Commission, Tarawa
The clearance is therefore not only about removing old weapons, but reducing a risk that has remained part of everyday life in a heavily populated part of Tarawa.
The operation also highlights the wider problem of unexploded wartime ordnance across the Pacific where remnants of past conflicts continue to threaten communities decades later.
A similar operation in Papua New Guinea earlier this year saw NZDF personnel help destroy about 2200 pieces of Second World War-era ordnance that had remained a threat to communities for more than 80 years.
Colonel Grant Scobie, NZDF Special Operations Component Commander, said the work is part of ongoing efforts to deal with the Pacific’s legacy of unexploded wartime weapons.
“Disposal of explosive remnants of war is something we do regularly,” he said.
The NZDF says it has carried out similar clearance work across the region, including in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Naoero.
Watch an NZDF explosive ordnance disposal operation in PNG below.
Kiribati officials say the focus now is on getting the more than 400 pieces of UXO out of Betio and safely disposed of.
Once the operation is complete, authorities expect it to significantly improve safety for the people who live and work around the former wartime site.
The joint exercise also reflects growing cooperation between Kiribati and Aotearoa on a very practical issue: dealing with the dangerous remains of a war that ended generations ago but whose weapons are still being found across Pacific communities.
