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:
- Cambodia Reaffirms Ottawa Convention Commitments Amid Reports of Anti-Personnel Mines Along Border
February 26, 2026
The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) has called for careful, objective, and responsible handling of reports concerning the discovery of anti-personnel mines along the Cambodia-Thailand border. In a statement issued on Thursday, the CMAA reaffirmed Cambodia’s full commitment to its obligations under the Ottawa Convention, stressing that the country has not laid any ...
- Burkina Faso: JNIM’s use of landmines and explosive devices
February 26, 2026
Burkina Faso has been one of the central battlegrounds in the Sahel’s expanding jihadist conflict for more than a decade. The al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) is one of the main armed groups operating there, alongside Islamic State-linked groups. The violence has caused widespread displacement, tens of thousands of deaths, and a deteriorating ...
- UNODC facilitates regional exchange on strengthening cross-border coordination in countering use of IEDs and drones in the Sahel
February 25, 2026
Terrorist violence continues to pose a serious threat to stability and security across West Africa, with the Sahel region remaining the epicentre of global terrorism-related deaths. In recent years, terrorist groups, particularly those affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) and Al-Qaida, have increasingly relied on asymmetric tactics, notably Improvised Explosive Devices ...
- Syria, Ukraine discuss cooperation on landmine clearance
February 24, 2026
Syria’s Minister of Emergency Management and Disaster Response, Raed al-Saleh, met a Ukrainian delegation in Damascus to discuss expanding cooperation on clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), the ministry said. The Ukrainian delegation was led by Ihor Bezkrovainyi, director of Ukraine’s Humanitarian Demining Center and deputy minister of economy and agriculture. Talks focused on strengthening Syria’s ...
- Poland prepares to lay mines to defend eastern borders from Russian threat
February 23, 2026
Poland on Friday formally withdrew from the Ottawa Treaty, an international convention that bans anti-personnel landmines, paving the way for their deployment along its eastern borders. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the country aimed to be able to mine its borders within 48 hours in the event of a threat. Poland plans to deploy the devices ...
- Myanmar records world’s highest landmine casualties as conflict intensifies
February 21, 2026
According to the 2025 Landmine Monitor report, Myanmar recorded the highest number of casualties globally in 2024 due to landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). The report states deaths and injuries more than doubled in a year as conflict spread across the country. The report found that 2,029 people were killed or injured in 2024. ...
- A multi-country epidemiological analysis of mortality from landmines and other explosive ordnance
February 19, 2026
Explosive ordnance including landmines, improvised explosive devices and explosive remnants of war are known to contaminate at least fifty-eight countries, threatening the health of affected communities across generations. Despite the scale of this problem, mortality estimates pertaining to these weapons are limited in scope. This study addresses this knowledge gap by conducting a multi-country epidemiological study ...
- Azerbaijan: ANAMA employee injured in landmine explosion in Khojaly District
February 18, 2026
A staff member of the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) was injured in a landmine explosion on February 18, 2026, in the village of Mukhtar in the Khojaly District, an area recently liberated from occupation. According to ANAMA, the incident occurred while the agency employee, 25-year-old Vasif Chobanov, born in 2000, was carrying out his official ...
- South Korea: Jeong Tae-seong urges to set mine standards and speed clearance
February 18, 2026
Jeong Tae-seong, secretary general ofthe Korea Association for Mine Action Technology, said, “Not only north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) or the Civilian Control Line (CCL), but also mines around rear-area air defense bases are making normal use of the land difficult.” The land mine problem is notlimited to border areas. According to data from the ...
- Afghanistan: The hidden explosive threat
February 16, 2026
In Afghanistan, the guns have fallen silent, but the war remains buried beneath the soil in the form of deadly explosive items, including landmines and unexploded remnants of war. The European Union supports mine clearance efforts so communities can safely use land for farming, housing, and schools, while also funding risk education and providing medical ...
- Thailand: Reports of 6 newly laid mines in Trat province
February 15, 2026
Thailand’s Humanitarian Mine Action Unit has discovered six newly planted PMN-2 anti-personnel landmines in Ban Chamrak, Muang district, confirming they were recently laid by Cambodian forces. The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) spokesman Rear Admiral Parach Rattanachaipan said on Sunday the mines were found on Saturday during an operation to secure the area under the “Trat Phikhat ...
- Thailand: Thai soldier loses right ankle in landmine blast in Si Sa Ket
February 12, 2026
A Thai soldier was seriously injured after stepping on a landmine at Huai Ta Maria, opposite the Preah Vihear Temple in Si Sa Ket province, on Monday (November 10). The Second Army Area, which is responsible for the area, confirmed that rescue teams are working to evacuate the injured personnel from the scene. According to a ...
- Cambodia: US provides US$4mil for demining, pledges to clear UXOs from homes of displaced persons
February 8, 2026
The United States has earmarked US$4 million in aid to the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) for the clearance of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), while pledging to help Cambodian war refugees affected by UXO return to their homes. In a Friday (Feb 6) social media post, the US Embassy said: “The United States is implementing ...
- Ukraine: Demining Program Clears 1340 Hectares of Agricultural Land in January 2026
February 7, 2026
Under the state program to compensate for demining costs, mine-action operators cleared 1,340 hectares of agricultural land in Ukraine in January; the cost of the works amounted to 76.43 million hryvnias. According to the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture, such a volume of work confirms activity in the field of demining agricultural plots. Specifically, during ...
- Thailand: Border standoff eases on K5, but mines and bombs still found daily
February 5, 2026
The Royal Thai Army said the situation along the K5 road in Ta Phraya district, Sa Kaeo province, has not worsened, with no further advances detected by Cambodian personnel allegedly disguising themselves as civilians. However, officials warned that explosive ordnance clearance remains urgent as residents return to the disputed border area and continue to discover explosive ...
- Afghanistan: 87 killed by unexploded ordnance last year
February 4, 2026
At least 87 people were killed and 333 injured in incidents involving unexploded ordnance across Afghanistan over the past year, the Taliban-run disaster management authority (ANDMA) said on Wednesday. The ANDMA said 193 incidents linked to unexploded bombs and mines were recorded nationwide during the period. Mohammad Yousof Hamad, Taliban spokesman for the ANDMA, said the ...
- Syria: Security teams clear mines from key road in eastern Aleppo
February 4, 2026
Engineering teams from Syria’s Internal Security Forces began clearing mines and improvised explosive devices on Wednesday from a key road linking the Qarah Qozak Bridge with the town of Shuyukh in eastern Aleppo province, the Interior Ministry said. The devices had been planted along the road in the Ain al-Arab region, according to the ministry, which ...
- Lebanon has decided to join the Mine Ban Treaty
February 3, 2026
Following the signing of the accession decree, the treaty will enter into force for Lebanon six months after deposit with the UN. This progress reflects decades of work by Lebanese civil society and mine action partners, and brings hope to communities still affected by landmines. Read more… Source: Facebook – International Campaign to Ban Landmines Sign up for ...
- Thailand: Royal Thai Navy Finds Landmines and IEDs in Trat
January 30, 2026
The Navy finds five landmines and IEDs in Trat’s Chamrark and Nong Ri areas. Explosive ordnance disposal units work to ensure public safety after ceasefire agreement. On January 30, 2026, RAdm Parach Rattanachaiyapan, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Navy, revealed that on January 29, 2026, the Humanitarian Mine Action Unit (HTMU) of the Royal Thai Navy ...
- Thailand: Troops finish clearance of deadly landmines in Si Sa Ket
January 25, 2026
Armed forces have finished clearing landmines along the Thai-Cambodian border in Si Sa Ket, opening safe access after all explosive threats were removed. The Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters’ Thailand Mine Action Center (TMAC) on Saturday reported progress in mine clearance operations in the area. It said Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams conducted technical survey operations ...
- Afghanistan: Landmine Blast Kills Child in Maidan Wardak
January 19, 2026
According to a statement from the Taliban’s provincial police command, the incident occurred on Sunday (January 18) in Puladkhana area of Maidan Shahr, the provincial capital. The statement said the explosion was caused by a landmine left over from previous conflicts and detonated while a group of children were collecting firewood in the area. Local authorities said ...
- Yemen: Hodeida destroys 140 landmines in al-Hali district
January 18, 2026
The Executive Mine Action Center branch in Hodeida province destroyed on Sunday 140 anti-vehicle landmines left by the Saudi-US aggression in al-Hali district. The operation was carried out as part of ongoing clearance efforts to secure residential areas and roads, with officials stressing that mine-removal activities continue despite financial and logistical challenges to protect civilians and ...
