Unexploded ordnance bring endless nightmare to Iraq

In the northern Iraqi hamlet of Hassan-Jalad, almost every family has a story to tell about a time when a child, nephew or brother was lost to wartime munitions. Located near Mosul, a former stronghold of the Islamic State (IS) Read More …

Cambodia seeks more cooperation from development partners to achieve mine-free status by 2025

Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has called for more assistance and cooperation from development partners and other stakeholders in order to achieve the country’s goal of mine-free nation by 2025. “I would once again like to Read More …

Cambodia: CMAC hits 78 per cent of goals for 2021 despite pandemic

The Cambodia Mine Action Center (CMAC) plans to clear all explosive remnants of war (ERW) on 125 sq km next year to advance the decades long clean-up effort closer to its scheduled completion in 2025. The demining centre held a Read More …

NPA and CMAC signs cooperation to clear minefields in Cambodia

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) have signed cooperation to clear land mines in Kep and make it the first mine-free province in Cambodia. Khmer Times writes that the cooperation agreement was signed on 29 Read More …

Australia grants additional AUD1 million for landmine clearance in Sri Lanka

The Australian High Commission has granted an additional AUD1 million or LKR135 million for landmine clearance in Sri Lanka. The funds have been provided as continued support for landmine clearance charity, the Mine Advisory Group (MAG), until December 2022. Australia Read More …

Iraq: Clearance Operations on a massive IED belt in Tal Kaif, North of Mosul

After eight months of operations conducted by UNMAS implementing partner, Global Clearance Solutions (GCS), in Tal Kaif, north of Mosul, over 250,000 square meters of contaminated land were cleared, and more than 1,200 items of explosive ordnance rendered safe and Read More …

Azerbaijan: ADA University, British Embassy in Baku organize lecture on land mine clearance in Karabakh

ADA University and the British Embassy in Baku have co-organized the online lecture on “Land mines in Karabakh. Seeking solutions”. The discussion was held in the framework of “Global Perspective Lecture Series”, the flagship platform of ADA University that brings Read More …

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 …

U.S. to donate 30 more mine detection dogs to Azerbaijan

The U.S. Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) will donate 30 more mine detection dogs (MDDs) to Azerbaijan, the U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan has reported on its social media accounts. “To date, MLI is proud to have been able to provide 40 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 …

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 …