Five States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention have recently submitted instruments of withdrawal, citing national security and military necessity, while at least one other has taken steps to “suspend” the Convention.
These developments raise important questions about whether anti-personnel mines retain any meaningful military utility in contemporary conflict. In this post, Erik Tollefsen, Head of the ICRC Weapon Contamination Unit and Pete Evans, Head of the ICRC Unit for Arms Carriers and Prevention examine this question from an operational perspective. They argue that advances in technology and the realities of modern warfare have significantly reduced the military relevance of anti-personnel mines, while their humanitarian consequences remain severe.
Read more…
Source: ICRC Blog
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Afghanistan: MoU Signed for Mine Clearance in Logar
September 18, 2024
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed for the demining of over 580,000 square meters of land in Logar Province. According to a report from the National Disaster Management Authority, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, the Acting Head of the Authority, held a meeting with Elhamullah Mustafa, Head of External Relations at HALO Trust. The discussion focused on ...
- Falkland Islands: Explosive Disposal team locate and destroy a live anti vehicle landmine
September 9, 2024
On 31 August, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team from Mount Pleasant Complex (MPC) in the Falkland Islands were tasked to Cape Pembroke, North of Stanley Airport, for a possible landmine found by two serving soldiers from MPC. Upon contacting the Police Incident Commander, it was deemed unsafe to approach as water was covering the item. ...
- Mine Action Office opens in Ukraine
September 7, 2024
The Mine Action Office of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine has begun work in Ukraine, said Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko. “This is a coordinating body responsible for planning, monitoring and the practical component of performing demining tasks. It also carries out certification and quality control of the work of mine action operators,” Klymenko ...
- Sri Lanka: Four women injured in explosion while clearing land mines in Mankulam
September 6, 2024
Four women were injured when a land mine exploded while they were clearing mines in Mankulam, Vavuniya last evening. Police said the women, who were part of a non-governmental organization engaged in demining land mines buried by the LTTE, were initially admitted to the Mankulam Hospital. They were later transferred to the Kilinochchi Hospital for further ...
- Demining Ukraine: 17,000 ha of liberated territory cleared in September
September 5, 2024
In August, 17,000 hectares of mine-contaminated land in liberated areas were cleared of explosives. That’s according to the Ministry of Defense, Ukrinform reports. “In August, demining units of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry cleared 17,368.4 hectares in de-occupied territories of explosives, of which 17,308.65 hectares are farmlands,” the statement reads. In the course of mine clearance, 8,837 explosive ...
- Cambodia: Siem Reap five-year mine action plan drafted
September 4, 2024
The five-year Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan, which will be adopted for implementation at November’s 2024 Ottawa Convention meeting in Siem Reap province, has been successfully developed, according to the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), which will chair the meeting. The Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan 2025-2029, which consists of 9 chapters and 45 activities, ...
- Iraq: ISIS remnant landmine claims lives of three children near Mosul
September 1, 2024
A devastating explosion west of Mosul has claimed the lives of three children and injured two others from the same family. The blast, believed to have been caused by a landmine left behind by ISIS, occurred inside an abandoned house near the village of Sweiti in the Baaj district. A security source in Nineveh informed Shafaq ...
- Bringing Drone Technology to Iraqi Police
August 30, 2024
“In 2021, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Salman Pak Training Center received 20 drones from UNMAS Iraq. These drones were distributed to relevant departments across the Iraqi governorates in order to ensure the best use of this technology during operations. UNMAS Iraq has provided training courses at Salman Pak Training Center since ...
- Employing Military Working Dogs in Large-Scale Combat Operations
August 30, 2024
Canines have been useful to military organizations since their domestication. Few, if any, instruments of war have the successful track record and longevity of MWDs. They remain effective in a variety of environments, including dense vegetation, subterranean complexes, and trench networks. Even in the current operational environment, there are many situations in which MWDs outperform drones ...
- Ukraine’s border with Belarus in Zhytomyr Oblast “sealed entirely”
August 26, 2024
Vitalii Bunechko, Head of the Zhytomyr Oblast Military Administration, believes the chances of a Russian offensive across Zhytomyr Oblast are “very small,” because the border is well protected, particularly by fortifications, and heavily mined. According to Bunechko, the fortification work is 99% complete: “in some places the workers are correcting their mistakes; in certain locations, we ...
- GICHD Insights: Towards The Fifth Review Conference of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention
August 23, 2024
The Fifth Review Conference of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) will open in Siem Reap-Angkor, Cambodia, on 25 November 2024. To contribute to preparations for this event, the GICHD is launching a series of issue briefs on selected thematic areas relevant to APMBC implementation, for consideration in the Conference outcomes and during the next five ...
- Azerbaijan: Female demining team clears 3,203,997 square meters of land
August 20, 2024
Since September 25 of last year, women’s mine clearance teams have been operational, and by August 15 of this year, a total of 3,203,997 square meters of land have been cleared, Azernews reports, citing Hafiz Safikhanov, Chairman of the “Azerbaijan Campaign Against Mines” Public Union, as he stated this at a press conference dedicated to the ...
- “The Largest Landmine Field” and its Youngest Victims: Harrowing Tales of Suffering in Yemen
August 19, 2024
Seventeen-year-old Yemeni Muhanad Mubarak Al-Aqili lost his life after a stray shrapnel from a landmine explosion settled in his abdomen. Muhanad was returning home from school in Harib district when the incident occurred last year. In January 2024 alone, 17 people, including children, were either killed or injured due to landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in ...
- EU allocating EUR 2M for new humanitarian mine action initiative in Ukraine
August 13, 2024
The European Union is allocating EUR 2 million to finance a new humanitarian mine action initiative in Ukraine, which will be carried out by Ukrainian handlers with their highly trained dogs. The relevant statement was made by the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “Ukrainian handlers with their highly trained dogs ...
- MAG successfully completes UK funded project in Laos
August 12, 2024
Following a UK fundraising appeal in 2022, MAG has successfully completed a year-long project in Laos, as a direct result of donations received through the campaign. The ‘Unlock the Land’ appeal raised close to £450,000, including £211,336 of matched funding from the UK government. The project, running from April 2023 to March 2024, focused on searching ...