Following a successful side event organised by France on 14th October 2024, held alongside the First Committee of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the responses to the threats posed by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Sebastian Kasack, MAG’s Head of Programmes Performance and Learning, and Riccardo Labianco, International Policy Manager, reflect on the role of humanitarian mine action in addressing explosive devices with indiscriminate effects, particularly landmines of an improvised nature.
Read more…
Source: Reliefweb
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- Alabama: Explosive device found and detonated at Mobile water reservoir
May 13, 2026
The Gulf Coast Regional Maritime Response and Render-Safe Team retrieved and detonated an improvised explosive device found underwater at the Converse Reservoir dam, the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System announced Tuesday. The multi-agency effort included the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, FBI Bomb Squad, Mobile Police Department Explosive Ordinance Detail, ALEA Bomb Squad and the Daphne ...
- Ukraine: Glass cobwebs in the fields, why fibre optics can be a problem for demining
May 6, 2026
A new anthropogenic landscape is forming along the front line, saturated with everything possible: debris, mines, unexploded ordnance, and toxic waste. Fiber optics from drones are also on this list. Millions of kilometers of thin cables litter Ukrainian lands and pose a new challenge for humanitarian demining teams. It would be absurd to stop using fiber-optic ...
- Lebanon: Hezbollah adopts fiber-optic drones, used widely in the war in Ukraine
April 30, 2026
Hezbollah has launched a new weapon against northern Israel in the latest round of fighting: small drones controlled with fiber-optic cables the width of dental floss that avoid electronic detection. These drones — used widely in the war in Ukraine — are small, hard to track and potentially lethal. Many drones are susceptible to electronic jamming ...
- India: Delhi–Mumbai joint raid foils toy car IED terror plot
April 6, 2026
The Delhi Police Special Cell, working with Maharashtra ATS, arrested Mossab Ahdam alias Kalam Kalyan and Mohammad Hamad Kollara from Mumbai’s Kurla and Khadavli. Officials allege they were part of an ISIS-inspired module with links to Jaish-e-Mohammed, plotting attacks in Delhi and Mumbai using toy cars as IED carriers. Incriminating digital material, including extremist chats, was ...
- Russia: Authorities intercepted shipment of explosive-laden shoe insoles rigged with explosives
March 24, 2026
The Russian Federal Security Service has intercepted a shipment of heated shoe insoles rigged with explosives, which arrived from Poland and was destined for the special military operation zone. According to the press office, a foreign national born in 1994 has been detained in Russia. He was involved in the smuggling of weapons to Russia from ...
- California: Homemade explosives found in probationer’s car near sheriff’s office in Placer County
March 11, 2026
Authorities arrested a probationer after investigators discovered homemade fireworks and explosive devices inside his vehicle parked near the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. According to the sheriff’s office, just after 2 p.m. Feb. 4, the Placer County Probation Department contacted the sheriff’s office about a probationer suspected of possessing illegal fireworks. PCSO stated that its members of ...
- 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 ...
- UK: Man who booby-trapped Barnsley drug den with ‘Home Alone’ explosives and flamethrower jailed
February 10, 2026
A man who rigged Barnsley properties with improvised explosive devices and a homemade flamethrower to protect a large-scale drugs operation has been jailed. Police raided three properties on Brierley Road in Barnsley on May 8, 2024, after intercepting a delivery of imitation firearms ordered from China. But upon arrival, officers discovered three neighbouring homes owned had been ...
- Nigeria: Terrorists use armed drones to attack military base in Borno
January 30, 2026
Several soldiers are feared dead following a drone-assisted attack by suspected Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters on a Nigerian Army base in Borno state. Expand article logo Continue reading The attack, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday, January 29, targeted the Sabon Gari military base in the northeastern part of the ...
- Colombia restricts import of drones used in explosives attacks
January 29, 2026
Colombia has restricted the importation of drones, whose increased use by guerrilla groups in a decades-old conflict killed 20 people last year and wounded nearly 300, the government said Thursday. Guerrillas fighting the state, as well as rival rebel and drug trafficking groups, have taken to fixing explosives to commercial drones and targeting soldiers and civilians ...
- New Mexico: Albuquerque Man Charged After FBI Finds Modified Hand Grenade in His Home
January 27, 2026
An Albuquerque man has been federally charged with unlawfully possessing an improvised explosive device following the discovery of a modified hand grenade in his home. According to court documents, on December 31, 2025, the Albuquerque Police Department responded to a residence in northwest Albuquerque after the resident, Jeff Bramlett, 46, requested medical assistance. While assisting at ...
- Mexico: In 1 year, Michoacán authorities deactivated more than 1,600 improvised explosive devices
January 20, 2026
The number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) located, seized and deactivated by state authorities in Michoacán more than doubled last year, indicating that criminal groups’ use of the makeshift bombs is becoming more prevalent. According to data from the Michoacán Security Ministry, 1,645 IEDS were neutralized by state authorities last year, an increase of 122.5% compared ...
- Thailand: Army seizes Cambodian IED after border encroachment detected
December 21, 2025
Thailand’s Second Army Area has disclosed details of the seizure of an improvised explosive device (IED) from a military area under Cambodian control, after what it described as an incursion to establish a military operating base and use the site to store weapons and equipment. An inspection found a homemade IED assembled using a TM-57 anti-tank ...
- Colombia: At least 6 soldiers killed in drone and mortar attack in Cesar province
December 19, 2025
Guerrilla group ELN allegedly killed at least six soldiers and injured another 28 in a drone and mortar attack on a military base in northern Colombia. The attack took place in Aguachica, a municipality in the Cesar province that is considered of major strategic importance for the ELN. In a press statement, the National Army said ...
- Thailand: Urgent efforts to recover modified artillery shells as “Landmines” in Trat
December 19, 2025
On December 19, 2025, Rear Admiral Parat Rattanachaiphan, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Navy, condemned the actions of the Cambodian military for clandestinely placing modified landmines intended to kill Thai soldiers in the area around Ban Nong Ree (Ban Sam Lang) in Trat. The mines were reportedly modified from artillery shells, a violation of international humanitarian ...
- Massachusetts: North Shore man had explosive materials, gun equipment in apartment
December 12, 2025
A Massachusetts man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stockpiling materials used to create explosive devices at his apartment in Salem, Massachusetts. Patrick Gordon, 42, was arraigned in Salem District Court on charges of possession of an incendiary device and possession of an assault weapon. Investigators said large quantities of fuels and oxidizers used to make explosive ...
- West Virginia: Barbour County man arrested after police find multiple explosives at his residence
December 1, 2025
A Barbour County man was arrested when police executed a previous warrant and found multiple explosive devices at his residence. On Sunday, around 4 p.m., the West Virginia State Police responded to a residence in Moatsville alongside the Barbour County Sheriff’s Department to execute the arrest warrant of Brian Koval, 49. Koval’s arrest warrant originally stemmed ...
- India: Improvised rocket with 40 kg explosive seized in Manipur’s Churachandpur
November 26, 2025
An improvised long-range rocket with nearly 40 kg of explosive was seized from Manipur’s Churachandpur district, police said on Wednesday (November 26, 2025). An improvised long-range rocket with nearly 40 kg of explosive was seized from Manipur’s Churachandpur district, police said on Wednesday (November 26, 2025). The seizure was made in an operation by security forces ...
- Ukraine: Anti-tank mines from downed Russian drone destroyed in Sumy region
November 1, 2025
Police bomb disposal experts in the Sumy region destroyed anti-tank mines that were attached to a downed Russian drone. According to Ukrinform, the Sumy region police reported this on Telegram. “The Ukrainian Defense Forces shot down an enemy attack drone carrying cassettes with anti-tank mines. The aircraft crashed in a field in the Sumy district. During ...
- Mexico: Gulf Cartel gunman caught near Texas border with explosives, drones, and IEDs
October 22, 2025
Authorities in Mexico arrested a suspected member of the Gulf Cartel who had 151 drone explosives, 18 drones, three IEDs, and various other weapons. The seizure also included state-of-the-art anti-drone weapons. The arrest took place in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, a region that continues to see high levels of violence as the Gulf Cartel ...
- Mexico: Baja California Officials Say Drug Cartel Behind Explosive Drone Attack on Police Station
October 20, 2025
Law enforcement and government officials in northern Mexico continue to be targeted by drug cartels, which continue to retaliate as the government intensifies its crackdown on organized crime. The border city of Tijuana was the latest to be impacted, when a police station was attacked by drones carrying explosive devices. Read more… Source: Latin Times News Sign up for ...
- India: ‘Victim-Operated IEDs on the rise’, National Security Guard warns of shift in terror tactics
October 15, 2025
A detailed analysis by the National Security Guard (NSG) has revealed a significant shift in the tactics used by extremist groups across India, with a sharp increase in the use of victim-operated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during 2024. The findings, part of the NSG’s annual comprehensive report on blasts and explosive mechanisms, highlight changing attack patterns ...
