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:
- Myanmar: Security forces continue sanitation efforts in Kyaukme
October 6, 2025
Tatmadaw has fully regained control of Kyaukme Township in Shan State (North) after conducting counter-terrorism operations to ensure the safety and stability of local people. Tatmadaw, in cooperation with residents has been implementing reconstruction efforts to restore normal administration and rebuild the town. To enable the reopening of basic education schools and ensure safe and peaceful ...
- Ukraine: 1,330 people injured by mines during full-scale war, including 135 children
October 3, 2025
Since the start of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation, 1,330 people have been injured by mines and explosive remnants in Ukraine, including 135 children. “As of October 1, 2025, 1,330 people have been affected by enemy mines and explosive remnants of war, including 135 children and 1,195 adults,” the report said. The largest number ...
- Ukraine: Demining units of the Security and Defence Forces have neutralized over 1 million explosive devices
September 30, 2025
Since the onset of the full-scale war, demining specialists of the Security and Defence Forces have neutralized more than 1 million explosive devices. As reported by the Main Directorate for Mine Action, Civil Protection and Environmental Safety, nearly 6,500 km² of land have been surveyed, and inspections have been carried out on 9,691 km of roads, ...
- ADF: Taking mine clearance to the next level
September 29, 2025
A pair of rockets launch from an M1150 assault breacher vehicle over an anti-tank minefield trailing 110m lines, each covered with 750 kilograms of explosives. A thunderous explosion erupts as the lines detonate, triggering the mines or ejecting them from the site. Inside the vehicle are a pair of sappers, like Corporal Connor Trost, a combat ...
- Somalia: Danab Commandos, Jubbaland forces conduct mine clearance near Kismayo
September 19, 2025
Somali National Army’s elite Danab commandos, in collaboration with Jubbaland’s Dervish forces, carried out mine clearance operations on Thursday in the outskirts of Kismayo, the capital of the Lower Juba region. Danab officers told reporters that the operation was aimed at removing mines planted by al-Shabaab militants to protect civilians and secure key roads. “This mine ...
- Thailand: Eight more PMN-2 mines found in Sisaket, Thai Army accuses Cambodia of ceasefire violations
September 19, 2025
The Royal Thai Army has reported the discovery of eight additional PMN-2 anti-personnel mines in the Chong Don Ao area of Kantharalak district, Sisaket province, reinforcing concerns of ongoing Cambodian violations of the ceasefire agreement. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree said the 132nd Infantry Company, together with the Thailand Mine Action Center (TMAC), uncovered the ...
- Thailand: More than 2,400 mines, live shells found near Cambodian border
September 15, 2025
Bomb disposal experts have found 2,470 mines and other unexploded munitions on Thai soil near the border with Cambodia since the bilateral ceasefire agreement took effect on July 29. Col Siwa Wang-kat, spokesman for the Thailand Mine Action Centre, said its bomb squads found the landmines and artillery shells while combing the Phu Makua, Chong ...
- Thailand-Cambodia border talks lead to key agreements on demilitarisation, landmines, and online crime
September 10, 2025
Thailand and Cambodia’s special GBC meeting in Koh Kong resulted in key agreements on security, landmine removal, and combating online crime, with cooperation set to expand. General Nattaphon Narkphanit, Deputy Minister of Defence, on Wednesday led the Thai delegation at the Special Thailand-Cambodia General Border Committee (GBC) Meeting in Koh Kong, Cambodia. The meeting primarily focused ...
- Deadly threat of unexploded bombs in the Pacific persists 80 years on
September 6, 2025
This year is the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, but in some countries, the trail of death and destruction continues. Bombs, nearly a century old, are still exploding, killing and maiming people and contaminating land. Four years ago, a group of young people gathered for a barbecue in a residential backyard. ...
- Bosnia: Teen killed by landmine decades after the war
August 31, 2025
A great tragedy struck the village of Hodzici near Doboj on Saturday, when 19-year-old Mehmed Hasanamidzic lost his life. According to the Doboj Police Department, the young man was killed by an anti-personnel mine while trying to bring back goats that had strayed into a marked minefield. Since 2000, several people have been killed in Hodzici, ...
- Russia: Sappers defuse over 13,800 explosives in Kursk Region in one year
August 31, 2025
Sappers have defused more than 13,800 explosive devices in the Kursk Region since August 2024, the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported. “More than 13,800 explosive devices have been defused, and 418 hectares of territory have been surveyed,” the ministry said. The destroyed munitions include hand grenades, fuses, anti-tank mines, homemade drones, and submunitions, the latter of which ...
- DR Congo: UNMAS, KOICA and CCLMA conclude major demining project
August 28, 2025
The project “Sustainable Mine Action in Support of Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons and Communities Affected by Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, funded by KOICA for $6 million USD, and implemented by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in partnership with the Congolese Mine Action Center (CCLAM) was conducted in three provinces: Ituri, ...
- Russia to test portable standoff laser demining system
August 28, 2025
A Russian company has announced the upcoming testing of portable laser demining system, designed to enable secure remote clearance of explosives without detonation. The trials will take place at a designated testing ground within the current special operation zone, according to the company. The innovative system, named Posokh (Pikestaff), employs laser technology to selectively burn out ...
- Thai soldier latest landmine casualty as Bangkok mulls military options
August 27, 2025
Bangkok is considering military options after another Thai soldier lost a foot in a landmine explosion this afternoon in Surin province, Lt Gen Boonsin Padklang, commander of the Second Army Region, said. He condemned Cambodia for repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreement and the Ottawa Convention by planting new anti-personnel landmines. Private Adisorn Pomklang, from the 1st ...
- Texas: Fort Hood sappers breaching future with unmanned technology
August 22, 2025
FORT HOOD, Texas — On the battlefield, enemy forces often attempt to slow or halt an advance by setting up blockades and obstacles. When that happens, it is the Army’s combat engineers who are called in to clear the way and ensure the mission can move forward. They have the means and ability to detonate ...
- Libya: Lack of funding hinders mine clearance despite efforts by international organizations
August 20, 2025
An analytical report published by the English-speaking Senegalese “African Press Agency” has highlighted the ongoing threat of explosive remnants of war in Libya, which have posed a direct danger to civilian lives since 2011. Widespread Presence of Unexploded Ordnance The report explained that tens of thousands of mines, improvised explosive devices, and heavy shells remain scattered ...
- UNMAS in 2024: Protecting lives building peace
August 18, 2025
UNMAS delivers mandates assigned by the United Nations Security Council to peace operations and responds to requests for assistance from United Nations Resident Coordinators and national authorities in states affected by explosive ordnance. UNMAS responses are aligned to the objectives of the United Nations Mine Action Strategy and the United Nations vision of a world free ...
- Bangladesh-Myanmar border: Landmine-related injuries on the rise
August 18, 2025
In the first six months of this year, at least 18 people — 17 Bangladeshis and one Rohingya — were wounded in landmine explosions on the Myanmar side of the border. Two Rohingyas were killed and six others wounded last year, while five people were injured in 2023. Human Rights Watch reported last November that the ...
- Ethiopia Requests UN to Extend Landmine Clearance Deadline for Third Time
August 16, 2025
Ethiopia has requested the UN to again extend a deadline to clear landmines left strewn by wars old and new, placing people at risk on more than 125 million hectares of land. Ethiopia acceded to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) in 2004 and was initially obligated to clear all known contamination before June 2015—a ...
- UK continues support for mine clearance in Syria
August 15, 2025
The UK has stressed its continued support for efforts to clear Syrian territory of mines. The British envoy for Syria, Ann Snow, warned in a post on X platform that “Syria is set to record the highest number of civilian landmine casualties in the world’’. Snow noted that Britain supports the work of the Mine Advisory ...
- Thailand and Cambodia to hold border talks amid troop movements and minefield concerns
August 13, 2025
Thailand’s Special Task Force (STF) has announced that it will hold a series of Regional Border Committee (RBC) meetings with Cambodia this month to discuss ongoing border issues, including mine clearance. The move comes as an Asean delegation prepares to observe the border situation and a senior Thai official reveals that Cambodia’s recent troop reinforcements are ...
- Cambodia: CMAA denies new mine-laying allegations, urges fact-based cooperation with Thailand
August 10, 2025
The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) has strongly rejected accusations from Thailand that Cambodia planted new landmines near the border, calling the claims “unsubstantiated” and urging restraint to maintain the recently agreed ceasefire. In a statement issued Saturday, the CMAA said it “strongly refutes” the 9 August 2025 statement from Thailand’s Ministry of ...