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:
- “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 ...
- Lebanon: Japan supports mine action in El Mechref in El Chouf District
August 8, 2024
Handicap International Federation (HI), to enhance community safety by clearing explosive remnants of war in El Mechref village, Chouf district. On August 6, 2024, Ambassador MAGOSHI Masayuki signed a grant contract with Mr. Aurelien Thienpont, Country Manager of HI. HI has been actively working in Lebanon to clear landmines, cluster munitions, and unexploded ordnance, in collaboration ...
- Sudan: Heavy rains expose landmines north of Bahri in Khartoum
August 5, 2024
The recent heavy rains have eroded soil and uncovered landmines in the fields north of Bahri along the road leading to the Nile River State. The Bahri Emergency Room has issued urgent warnings to residents about the landmines scattered in the northern areas, which have become apparent due to recent flooding. The Emergency Room advised citizens ...
- Cambodia: CMAC clears 114 sq km of mines, UXO in first six months of 2024
August 5, 2024
In the first six months of 2024, the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) cleared 744 minefields covering an area of over 114 square kilometres and in the process found and destroyed a total of 64,782 landmines and pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO). The progress update was provided during a meeting of the CMAC board of directors ...
- Azerbaijan: Landmine accident claims casualty in Lachin
August 3, 2024
One person has been injured following a landmine explosion in the liberated Kalafaliq village of Azerbaijan’s Lachin district, Trend reports via the joint statement of the nation’s Interior Ministry, Prosecutor General’s Office, and Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA). “A resident of the Lachin district’s Vagazin village, Ali Suleymanov, born in 1960, while grazing cattle ...
- Azerbaijan: Landmine claims multiple casualties in Gazakh
August 2, 2024
Several people have been injured following explosion of landmines laid during Armenian occupation in Gizilhajili village of Azerbaijan’s Gazakh district, Trend reports via the joint statement of the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office, State Border Service and Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA). “As a result of the incident, warrant officer from the Border Service Khayal ...
- UNDP collaborates with FAO and WFP to test innovative demining technologies in Kharkiv Oblast
July 30, 2024
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is partnering with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to test cutting-edge demining technologies in the previously occupied community of Kamianka in Kharkiv Oblast. This collaboration between the UNDP, WFP, and FAO focuses on testing advanced sensor technologies, including magnetometers, optical cameras, and artificial ...
- Lithuania’s MoD presents fortifications plan, focus on mines and counter-mobility parks
July 29, 2024
Lithuania will start building permanent border fortification at two locations in September and the first counter-mobility park will be opened at the end of August, Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas has said. “On August 22, we will invite you all to the opening of one of the counter-mobility parks, the engineering park in Pabradė, and there will ...
- Nigeria: At least seven soldiers killed by landmine
July 26, 2024
At least seven Nigerian soldiers were killed after a mine exploded on a highway in Borno state, the hotbed of a Boko Haram militant insurgency, two vigilante officers said on Friday. A local vigilante officer helping to combat the insurgents, said a military vehicle was travelling along the road linking the villages of Monguno and Baga ...
- Cambodia: CMAA warns of increased risk of mines after heavy rain, floods
July 26, 2024
The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) called on the public to be vigilant during and after floods because of the risk that they could unearth landmines due to landslides or runoff. According to the announcement from the CMAA on Wednesday, during and after floods, mines and some explosive remnants of war can be ...
- Türkiye: Shepherd killed by landmine explosion in Hakkari
July 25, 2024
Bedrettin Düzen, a 32-year-old shepherd, was killed by a landmine explosion in the Doskî Valley region of Yüksekova district in the eastern province of Hakkari. Düzen was grazing his animals when he stepped on a landmine, resulting in severe injuries. He was transported to a hospital in Hakkari, where he later succumbed to his injuries. A ...
- Tunisia: One injured in landmine explosion in Kasserine Governorate
July 24, 2024
A civilian was injured on Tuesday in the explosion of a landmine in the military buffer zone of Jabal Salloum in Tunisia’s western province of Kasserine, the Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) reported. Wounded in his leg and right hand, the 47-year-old shepherd was transferred to the Kasserine regional hospital where he is receiving necessary care, the ...
- Cambodia: Battambang man unearths cache of landmines
July 23, 2024
A local resident unearthed around 50 unexploded PMN-type anti-personal landmines in a field in Battambang province’s O’Kaki village on July 21, according to a National Police statement. According to the July 22 announcement, the unexploded ordnance (UXO) was discovered in Kamrieng district’s O’Da commune. The man immediately reported his find to the commune police station. Read more… Source: The ...
- OCHA reports 110 die in landmine explosions in Afghanistan every month
July 22, 2024
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan (OCHA) says that explosive devices kill 110 people every month across the country. This report states that since 1989, 45,000 people have been victims of landmines and explosive remnants in Afghanistan. In addition, the organization says that the United Nations Office of Mine Action Services is ...
- Azerbaijan: Landmine explosion injures three in Kalbajar
July 20, 2024
On July 19, a landmine detonation occurred near the village of Aghdaban in the Kalbajar district, in an area not yet cleared of mines. Three individuals suffered in the explosion, with one person directly triggering the anti-personnel mine and another nearby also sustaining injuries. A third resident, who attempted to assist the wounded, unfortunately, suffered as ...
- Challenges and Opportunities in Addressing the Needs of Population affected by Explosive Ordnance Contamination in Afghanistan
July 10, 2024
Following decades of war, Afghanistan has one of the highest levels of explosive hazard contamination in the world including both legacy explosive contamination and new types of explosive hazards, in particular Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), as well as explosive remnants of war (ERW). Based on mine action projections, 4.9 million people (including people living within 1 ...
- Colombia Committed to Clearing Antipersonnel Mines
July 3, 2024
For seven years, soldiers from the Colombian National Army’s Humanitarian Demining Engineer Battalion No. 2 have been working on eliminating explosive devices in the municipality of Roncesvalles, Tolima department, in Colombia’s central mountain range. In this area, where 14 victims of anti-personnel mines were recorded during this period, deminers were present in 27 sectors, the National ...
- Ukraine: 30,000 square kilometers of land cleared of mine threats, operations expanding further
June 30, 2024
Ukrainian Colonel Ruslan Berehulia, head of the Ministry of Defense’s Environmental Safety and Mine Action Department, reported that Defense Ministry specialists have cleared 30,000 square kilometers of Ukraine over the past two years – an area comparable to the size of Belgium or Moldova. Since 2022, approximately 174,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian land have been contaminated ...
- Mozambique: Three die following explosion in Ndunda, Beira
June 25, 2024
Three people lost their lives on Sunday, in Ndunda neighbourhood, in the Beira central Mozambican city of Beira, following the explosion of a device which may have been a land mine. According to Monday’s issue of the independent daily “O País”, three other people were seriously injured and are currently receiving intensive care at Beira Central ...
- Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention – Intersessional meeting – EU Statement on Victim Assistance
June 18, 2024
The European Union has been resolutely engaged in favour of mine victims and persons with disabilities through its policies and assistance, in particular in the implementation of the Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/257 which provides for national stakeholder dialogues to encourage parties responsible for the wellbeing of mine‐affected communities and survivors to better address the challenges ...
