Cambodia: From 1979 to 2021 mine casualties in Battambang top 15,000

Over the 42-year period from 1979 to 2021, there were 15,289 people in Battambang province who were killed, disabled or injured by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), according to Battambang provincial governor Sok Lou. Lou provided the figure as he Read More …

Armenian demining experts demine 2,000,000 square meters of territory in Damascus along with UNMAS

Within the scope of the agreement that Armenia and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) signed on October 25, 2021, on November 21, a demining group of the Humanitarian Demining and Expertise Center SNCO left for Damascus under the Read More …

Clearing Afghanistan’s landmines one careful step a time

Weeks after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, families who fled the fighting in one southern village returned home to find something strange: the cricket ground had been circled in rocks painted red and white. White, it turned out, meant it Read More …

South Korea: New lab launched to apply AI tech for demining operations

South Korea opened a research laboratory Tuesday to develop a demining solution utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance accuracy of the military’s mine clearance operations, the defense ministry said. The ministries of defense and science established the laboratory at the Read More …

30 Years of Impact – An Evaluation of the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan

Due to successive waves of instability and conflict from the 1980s onwards, Afghanistan was heavily contaminated by explosive ordnance (EO). Established to improve this situation, the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan (MAPA) commenced activities in 1988. MAPA is a platform Read More …

Demining exercise benefits communities in Zimbabwe’s border region

Mount Darwin District in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland Central Province has been declared landmine free following landmine clearance efforts by the government. The southern African country is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, where landmines have killed more Read More …

Cambodia: UNDP supports mine-free 2025 goal

Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and First Vice-President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), asked the recently appointed UNDP Representative to Cambodia Alissar Chakar to continue support and provide additional resources for Cambodia’s demining efforts. Thuch requested Read More …

Ukraine sets up new government body to cope with landmines

The Ukrainian cabinet on Wednesday set up the National Authority for Mine Action, a special government body that will deal with the landmine problem in eastern Ukraine, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported. The new body, led by the defense minister, will Read More …

Landmine casualties ‘exceptionally high’, Syria and Afghanistan worst-hit

According to Landmine Monitor 2021, the number of victims rose by 20 per cent in 2020 compared with the previous 12 months, the result of “increased armed conflict and contamination” of land with improvised mines. In total, more than 7,000 Read More …

Nagorno-Karabakh: Land still laced with mines, year after war

A year after intense fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, the territory is still so heavily laced with mines and unexploded weaponry that it could take more than 10 years to be fully cleared. Over the past year, thousands Read More …

Cambodia: 2sq km of minefields left to clear in Battambang’s Kamrieng district

A swathe of Battamabang province’s Kamrieng distirct spanning 27sq km has been cleared of landmines, with a total of 40,065 anti-personnel mines collected and destroyed as of September, according to the Cambodia Mine Victim Information System (CMVIS) – an entity Read More …

Norway and Vietnam to continue assistance and cooperation in Mine Action in Vietnam

On 29 October, Mr. Jan Erik Støa, Country Director of Norwegian People’s Aid Vietnam (NPA), and Mr. Tran Trung Hoa, the Director-General of Vietnam National Mine Action Center (VNMAC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on continued assistance and cooperation in Read More …

Cambodia: MoU signed to find funding for Preah Sihanouk mine clearance

Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cambodia Emergency Rescue People’s Association (CERPA), aimed at appealing for funding from Chinese investors to support mine clearing projects in Preah Sihanouk. The signing of Read More …

Lebanon’s townspeople hope for mine-free orchards after two decades of fear

From the balcony of a mosque in Lebanon’s southern town of Abbasiya, a group of townspeople have been anxiously monitoring their orchards for two decades, as the land was planted with mines by the Israeli army before its withdrawal in Read More …

Yemen war: Deadly landmines blight the lives of children on western coast

Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah used to have a carefree life, sailing on the sea with his father and brothers looking for fish instead of going to school. The 11-year-old is from a coastal village in Hodeidah’s Duraihimi district, where most of Read More …

UK funding for land mine clearance scrapped in Lebanon, Iraq and S. Sudan

UK government funding for land mine clearance in Lebanon, Iraq and South Sudan, as well as three other countries, has been scrapped in what humanitarian organisations called a “catastrophic collapse in support”. The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) released a statement Read More …

MAG responds to catastrophic collapse in UK support for landmine clearance

Below is a statement from MAG CEO Darren Cormack, responding to the news that UK funding for humanitarian mine action has been slashed by 80 per cent. MANCHESTER — The UK Government’s decision to reduce its funding for humanitarian mine Read More …

Cambodia: Mine educational material reach over 740,000 people

In the first nine months of this year, mine-related institutions have provided educational material to more than 740,000 people, according to the Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA). In a report on October 4, it said that from January to September, Read More …

Nearly 12 000 landmines destroyed by Sri Lanka under the Mine Ban Convention

“Sri Lanka is pleased to confirm that the Humanitarian Demining Unit of the Sri Lanka Army has destroyed nearly 12,000 stockpiled anti-personnel mines almost a year earlier than the deadline set to us by the treaty that bans the production, Read More …

Development partners to mobilise support to expand Asean ARMAC

Minister of Foreign Affairs Prak Sokhonn has urged development partners to mobilise support to further expand the outreach of ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) to benefit Asean countries and region. Sokhonn was speaking at the inaugural launch of the Read More …