Britain and its European allies must urgently regain the ability to deploy landmines if they are to be able to counter the “terrifying” threat posed by Russia, experts have warned.
Finland, a new member of Nato in the wake of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, announced in December that it was considering pulling out of the Ottawa treaty after Moscow, which is not a signatory, planted millions of mines in its ongoing war with Kyiv. The Scandinavian country, which has an 800-mile border with Russia, said the move should be seen as “defensive”. Leaders in the neighbouring Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – have also mooted returning to the use of anti-personnel mines, with senior figures in Estonia floating the idea of leaving the Ottawa ban.
Read more…
Source: MSN News
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- Ukraine’s New Anti-Tank Tactic: Lay A Minefield, Then Scatter More Mines From the Air
February 12, 2023
Russian tanks keep running into Ukrainian mines outside Vuhledar. Either the Russians are getting sloppy, or the Ukrainians have tweaked their minelaying tactics. More likely, both. Indeed, there are indications the Ukrainians have adopted a clever new method of laying mines. Ukrainian gunners wait until Russian troops clear a path through an old minefield—then toss fresh mines ...
- Ukraine: Halo Trust landmine charity to double workforce
February 11, 2023
The world’s largest land mine charity, the Halo Trust, is doubling its workforce in Ukraine this year to clear areas of explosives. The Scotland-based charity said it was undertaking a “huge” training programme to expand its staff to around 1,200. Read more… Source: BBC News Related story: Humanitarian demining center to be created in Ukraine
- Ukraine: Bomb engineers destroy hundreds of munitions at Mariupol plants
February 9, 2023
Bomb engineers of the Donetsk People’s Republic have destroyed hundreds of munitions at major industrial plants in Mariupol, commander of a mine clearing platoon of the First Army Corps who goes by the call name Prizrak, or Ghost, told TASS on Thursday. “Several hundred munitions have already been destroyed. There are different categories of munitions. A ...
- Japan contributes to UN Mine Action Service for humanitarian mine action and peacebuilding in Sudan
February 7, 2023
The Government of Japan has contributed USD 980,000 to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), a component of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), to advance Sudan’s peacebuilding efforts through humanitarian mine action. Aiming to mitigate the threat of explosive ordnance posed to Sudanese population as well as humanitarian and development ...
- Borrell announces provision of EUR 25 mln to Ukraine for mine clearance of territories
February 3, 2023
Head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced in Kyiv on Friday “on the sidelines” of the EU-Ukraine summit on the allocation of EUR 25 million for the clearance of territories under Ukrainian control, the European Union External Action Service (EEAS) has reported. “We will provide up to EUR 25 million to support demining efforts in these ...
- Yemen: Children ‘badly hurt by landmine which exploded as one played with it’
February 3, 2023
Three children and a woman have been badly hurt in a landmine explosion in Yemen, medical officials said. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the mine blew up on Thursday when one of the children began playing with the device. The group, which did not reveal the blast’s exact location, said the four victims arrived at a hospital ...
- Ukraine: Banned Landmines Harm Civilians
January 31, 2023
Ukraine should investigate its military’s apparent use of thousands of rocket-fired antipersonnel landmines in and around the eastern city of Izium when Russian forces occupied the area, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch documented numerous cases in which rockets carrying PFM antipersonnel mines, also called “butterfly mines” or “petal mines,” were fired into Russian-occupied ...
- Cambodia: CMAC embarks on demining efforts in five provinces
January 30, 2023
The Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) has deployed several groups of demining personnel to five provinces to embark on a new mine clearing effort. CMAC Director General Heng Ratana said recently “Mine-free Cambodia 2025” aims to demine a total of 18,000 hectares of mine fields. Read more… Source: Khmer Times
- Afghanistan: Landmines left over from war in Helmand are still claiming victims
January 27, 2023
Unexploded ordnance and mines in war-torn areas of Helmand threaten the lives of residents of the province who are calling on the government to clear the areas affected by the landmines. Abdul Bari, who lives in helmand’s sarkar area, said that his friends were killed in the blast, and he was injured in a mine blast. Residents ...
- Walls, Mines and Motivated Men: Ukraine’s Border With Belarus
January 27, 2023
The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are currently bracing themselves for any potential Russian offensive, with Belarusian troops, all along Ukraine’s northwestern border, a heavily forested area full of forbidding wetlands, as well as the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Among the many interesting things to see was the wall being built in the north, along the border. ...
- Winter 2022/23 edition of the Counter-IED Report magazine is now available to read online and in print
January 26, 2023
We are pleased to inform you that Winter 2022/23 edition of the Counter-IED Report magazine is now available to read online and in print. Articles, in-depth analysis and insights from NATO/Spanish Army, C-IED Centre of Excellence, EOD Centre of Excellence, Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA), CBRNe Secure India, Terrogence Global, BCB International Ltd et al. To view ...
- Ukrainian officials inspect mine removal equipment in Japan
January 25, 2023
Ukrainian government officials on Tuesday inspected land mine removal equipment displayed at an educational facility in Hokuto, Yamanashi Prefecture. Ukraine needs about 60 land mine removal machines and hopes to gain Japan’s assistance, said Stanislav Kulykivsky, head of the international technical assistance division at Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Read more… Source: The Japan Times
- Cambodia: Farmer injured due to mine explosion in Preah Vihear province
January 23, 2023
As a reminder of the remaining mines and UXOs scattered throughout the country, a farmer was injured while working at his field due to a mine explosion. This incident happened in Sen Rong Roeung 5 village, Teuk Krahorm commune, Choam Ksan district, Preah Vihear yesterday night. Read more… Source: Khmer Times
- Ukraine: Landmine explosion injures 4, including baby, in Mykolaiv Oblast
January 21, 2023
Hanna Zamazieieva, head of the Mykolaiv Oblast Council, reported on Jan. 21 that a car hit a landmine in the village of Liubomyrivka in Mykolaiv Oblast. According to her, four people were injured, including a three-week-old baby. She urged residents to be cautious. According to Ukraine’s Reintegration Ministry, Mykolaiv Oblast is one of the most explosive-contaminated ...
- Denmark supports explosive hazards management activities in Iraq
January 18, 2023
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq welcomed a contribution of 14 million DKK (over two million USD) from the Danish government, which will assist the Iraqi government to reduce the threat of explosive ordnance impacting civilians and support the development of a sustainable, well-coordinated national mine action sector, according to a press ...
- Syria: Child Dies In Landmine Blast In Eastern Deir Ez-Zor
January 17, 2023
A child lost his life in a landmine explosion, likely of the war remnants left by the Islamic State (ISIS), in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria. Ahmad al-Saken, a resident of al-Baghouz town, 130km east of Deir ez-Zor, said that “10-year-old child Hamed al-Hamed lost his life in a landmine blast of the war ...
- Over 9 million people benefit from Cambodia’s clean-up of landmine-contaminated land
January 17, 2023
Cambodia has cleared roughly 2,554 square kilometers of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contaminated land in the last 30 years, benefiting more than 9 million people, a senior official said on Monday. Ly Thuch, first vice president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), made the remarks during a meeting with ...
- Iraq: 2 killed, injured in mine explosion in Iraq
January 14, 2023
Two civilians were killed and injured following the explosion of a mine left by ISIL terrorists in the west of Al Anbar province of Iraq. One civilian was killed and another one was injured during the incident, a PMU official announced. Read more… Source: MEHR News Agency
- Cambodia: Over 61,400 landmines and UXOs destroyed by CMAC in 2022
January 13, 2023
Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) destroyed 61,477 landmines and UXOs in 2022. The update was shared on January 11 by Heng Ratana, Director General of CMAC, highlighting that the move has freed additional 194 square kilometres of land from landmines and UXOs, about 91.4 percent against the annual planning. Cambodian Mine Action Centre also set out a ...
- Iraq: Kurdistan Region records over 30 causalities to mines last year
January 12, 2023
The remains of decades-old explosives in the Kurdistan Region have killed or wounded over 30 people in 2022, according to figures published by the mines’ authority. A total of 24 people were wounded by unexploded mines across Iraq’s Kurdish region last year, mostly in the border areas with neighboring countries that had witnessed numerous battles, including ...
- Yemen: 3 killed in landmine explosion in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah
January 12, 2023
Three people were killed on Wednesday in a landmine blast in Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported. The victims were a woman and her two children, while her husband was critically injured in the blast in the al-Durayhimi district in the southern part of the city. Read more… Source: China.org.cn
- Yemen: Mine explosions kill 5 civilians in Nihm district, east of Sanaa
January 11, 2023
Five civilians were killed Wednesday in two landmine explosions in war-torn Yemen, according to a Yemeni observatory. A landmine exploded as three minors were grazing sheep in Nihm district, east of the capital Sanaa, killing two and injuring the third, the Yemeni Landmine Observatory said in a statement. A mother and her two daughters were also killed ...