Poland and the Baltic states said on Tuesday that they want to withdraw from an international treaty banning anti-personnel mines, citing Russia’s growing military threat. In a joint statement, the defence ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland said they “unanimously recommend withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention”.
The 1997 treaty — which prohibits the use, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines — has been ratified or acceded to by more than 160 countries. Russia has not joined the agreement, and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine has turned the war-torn country into the most mine-laden nation in the world, according to reports.
Read more…
Source: Euronews
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- Ukraine: Flanders allocates 1 million euros to mine clearance efforts with dogs
November 2, 2026
The Flemish government is allocating 1 million euros to help Ukraine detect mines with dogs. The money will go to the non-profit organisation Apopo. Apopo is an NGO that has used animals to detect landmines in war-affected areas for more than twenty years. The NGO, headquartered in Tanzania, was founded by Flemish national Christophe Cox. Apopo has ...
- Syria: Landmines, explosive remnants of war kill seven, injure 11 in one week
November 1, 2026
Seven people, including three children, were killed and 11 others injured in six explosions involving landmines and unexploded ordnance across Syria between October 24 and 30, according to health officials and Civil Defense authorities. The incidents occurred in Hasakah, Hama, Daraa and Quneitra provinces, underscoring the continuing threat posed by explosive remnants of war to civilians, ...
- US delivers $7.9 Million in demining equipment to Ukrainian sappers
October 28, 2026
The United States has delivered a new batch of specialized demining gear valued at $7.9 million to the State Special Transport Service of Ukraine. According to the US Embassy in Ukraine, humanitarian landmine clearance directly aligns with American security and economic interests by creating safe conditions for US businesses to operate on Ukrainian territory, Hromadske reported ...
- Syria: Landmine blast kills four-year-old boy, injures two in Hama
October 26, 2026
A four-year-old boy was killed and two members of his family were injured when a landmine exploded during an olive harvest in Syria’s northern Hama countryside. The explosion occurred on farmland in the town of Halfaya as a family was picking olives. The two injured relatives were taken to a private hospital in Mhardeh for treatment. ...
- As 3D-Printed Weapons Test Conventional-Arms Control, First Committee Calls for Stronger Tracing
October 22, 2026
Delegates in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), concluding today’s thematic debate on conventional weapons, called for tighter safeguards against illicit arms transfers and diversion, binding global governance of autonomous weapons and updated tracing measures to address challenges posed by three-dimensional (3D) printed arms. Delegations also highlighted the humanitarian consequences of anti-personnel mines, cluster munitions, ...
- Cambodia, Croatia foster demining cooperation
October 20, 2026
Cambodia and Croatia have pledged to further exchange experiences and lessons on mine action to strengthen cooperation in the field, following Croatia’s successful mine actions under the Ottawa Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty. On October 19, Ly Thuch, the first vice president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), met Gordan Grlic Radman, Croatian ...
- Syria, UNMAS discuss coordination on demining
October 18, 2026
Qutaiba Kadish, director of the International Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, met Sunday with Kazumi Ogawa, director of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), to discuss the agency’s work in Syria and ways to strengthen coordination. The meeting focused on UNMAS’s pivotal role and operations in Syria, and the need ...
- Syria: Army engineer killed, another seriously wounded while carrying out mine-clearance
October 17, 2026
A soldier from the Syrian Arab Army’s Military Engineering Directorate was martyred and another seriously wounded while carrying out mine-clearance duties in the Tanf area of eastern Homs countryside on Saturday. The Defense Ministry’s Media and Communications Directorate told SANA that the two soldiers were working to dismantle mines and explosive remnants left by the ousted ...
- Ethiopia: New safety net framework prohibits public works in mine-risk zones without clearance
October 17, 2026
Public works under Ethiopia’s sixth Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP 6) will be ineligible for financing and implementation in areas confirmed or suspected to contain unexploded ordnance or landmines until authorized mine-action agencies issue written clearance, according to a newly disclosed environmental and social safeguards framework. The final PSNP framework document disclosed by the Ministry of ...
- Afghanistan: ANDMA declares Bamiyan cleared of mines, unexploded ordnance
October 16, 2026
Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) said nearly 85 million square meters of contaminated land in the central province had been cleared between 1990 and 2026. The areas had been contaminated by anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines, explosive remnants of war and munitions associated with military training. An additional 296,765 square meters of land was surveyed and ...
- Philippines: 93 WW2 explosives found in Sulu junk shop
October 13, 2026
Coast Guard (PCG) District Southwestern Mindanao personnel and explosive experts recovered 93 pieces of assorted unexploded ordnance, including a massive 500-pound World War II-era bomb, during a retrieval operation at a junk shop in this town on Monday. Coast Guard Station Western Sulu commander Al-Hafidz Bih reported on Tuesday that they retrieved 93 corroded projectiles of ...
- Pakistan: Four men killed in landmine explosion near LoC in Azad Kashmir
October 12, 2026
Four men were killed on Monday when a landmine exploded near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), according to the Directorate General of Public Relations (DGPR). The DGPR said in a statement, citing initial reports, that the four men were at the site of the incident in ...
- Cambodia to mark 20 years of contributions to UN Peacekeeping operations
October 11, 2026
Cambodia will mark the 20th anniversary of its participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations on October 24, commemorating two decades since the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces first deployed personnel to UN missions in 2006. The anniversary ceremony will coincide with the official inauguration of newly completed facilities at the Multinational Peacekeeping Forces Training School in Phnom ...
- Ukraine: 12,746 ‘Danger: Mines’ warning signs have been handed over to a border guard unit to mark areas that may be contaminated by explosive ordnance in Odesa region
October 8, 2026
The threat posed by mines remains a concern in many regions of Ukraine. Timely marking of areas where there may be a risk of explosive ordnance is an important part of keeping people safe. With the support of the Odesa regional branch, the Mine Action Unit of the Civil Protection and Emergency Response Programme Development Department ...
- Afghanistan: 78 per cent of Explosive Remnant Casualties are children amid mine-action funding shortfall
October 7, 2026
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says explosive remnants of war continue to pose a daily threat to civilians in Afghanistan, warning that sustained financial support for mine-action projects is needed to make communities safer. In a report published on Wednesday, OCHA said children accounted for 78 percent of casualties caused ...
- Cambodia: Nearly 198,000 sq m of demined land handed over to Koh Kong community
October 4, 2026
Nearly 198,000 square metres of previously mine-contaminated land in Koh Pao village, Pak Khlang commune, Koh Kong province, have been handed over to the local community following successful clearance under the Quick Impact Project (QIP) “Landmine Clearance in Koh Pao Village, Pak Khlang Commune, Koh Kong Province of Cambodia.” The handover ceremony was held in Koh ...
- Azerbaijan: Tractor hits landmine in Lachin
September 26, 2026
A tractor hit a landmine in the village of Finga, Lachin District. No one was injured, as stated in the joint statement issued by the press services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the Mine Action Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ANAMA). Read more… Source: Report.az News Sign up for the Counter-IED ...
- South Korea: Land mine explodes in Demilitarized Zone during military operation
September 22, 2026
A suspected land mine exploded at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) earlier this week during a route clearance operation to identify a potential North Korea-created minefield south of the inter-Korean border, South Korea’s military said Tuesday. The explosion occurred south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the western sector of the DMZ, separating the two Koreas, ...
- Syria and Ukraine sign demining agreement to support recovery and development
September 20, 2026
Syria and Ukraine signed a high-level humanitarian cooperation agreement on Sunday at the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management in Damascus to enhance demining operations, technical surveying, and sustainable agricultural recovery. The agreement was signed by Syrian Civil Defense Director Mounir Mustafa and Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economy and Environment Ihor Bezkaravainyi. It aims to leverage ...
- Bosnia and Herzegovina still has 756 sq km contaminated with mines
September 20, 2026
Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than three decades after the end of the war, has about 756 square kilometers of mine-suspected area, while the number of people trained in mine countermeasures has almost halved compared to the period before the coronavirus pandemic. The new law on mine action, which is still in the process of harmonization, ...
- Laos: 80 million unexploded munitions remain, funding cuts hit clearance
September 17, 2026
A senior Lao official has warned that an estimated 80 million unexploded munitions remain buried across Laos, while cuts in international funding could slow clearance work and prolong the threat to civilian lives. The National Regulatory Authority for UXO/Mine Action official Bounpheng Sisavath said more than a million of the deadly remnants had been cleared after ...
- Afghanistan inks 4.1 mln USD deals to clear landmines
September 17, 2026
The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) announced on Thursday the signing of two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the Danish Refugee Council’s mine action program to expand demining and explosive-risk reduction efforts across the country. Valued at 4,131,741 U.S. dollars, the agreements will enable the clearance of more than 1.53 million square meters of heavily ...