NATO members Poland, Finland and all three Baltic states have queued up over the past few weeks to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, in the face of what they say are growing military threats from Russia.
The moves threaten to reverse decades of campaigning by activists who say there should be a global ban on a weapon that blights huge swathes of territory and maims and kills civilians long after conflicts have abated. Countries that quit the 1997 treaty – one of a series of international agreements concluded after the end of the Cold War to encourage global disarmament – will be able to start producing, using, stockpiling and transferring landmines once again.
Read more…
Source: Middle East Monitor News
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox.
Related:
- UNDP: Debris and Explosive Ordnance – A Guide 2026
April 21, 2026
This guidance provides a practical framework for managing debris contaminated with explosive ordnance in post-conflict environments, particularly in densely populated urban areas. Recognizing that debris removal at scale is primarily a civil engineering activity, the guidance outlines how explosive ordnance risk can be effectively managed through targeted EOD support rather than full clearance. It emphasizes that ...
- Afghanistan: Saving lives in Helmand’s most conflict-affected communities
April 15, 2026
In the south of Afghanistan, Helmand Province was once at the centre of heavy fighting between the Taliban and NATO and the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces. Until 2021, NATO and the ANA tried to expel the Taliban from their heartland, but the latter fought back fiercely. Today, the war has ended, but the danger has ...
- Azerbaijan: Mine explosion in Fuzuli kills ANAMA employee
April 14, 2026
An employee of the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA), 31-year-old Mughan Metili, was killed in a mine explosion in the village of Ashagi Abdurrahmanli in the Fizuli district on Tuesday. The pro-government media outlet APA said Metili had stepped on an anti-tank mine during demining operations. Metili’s relative told the pro-government media outlet Qafqazinfo that he ...
- Danish Refugee Council removes explosive ordnance from key humanitarian infrastructure supporting forced returnees in Afghanistan
April 7, 2026
The Danish Refugee Council has removed ten pieces of explosive ordnance from critical humanitarian infrastructure supporting forced returnees from Pakistan. This explosive ordnance was found following heavy fighting in March at the Torkham border area following the latest round of Pakistan–Afghanistan hostilities. Danish Refugee Council humanitarian mine action teams were called to the area following reports of ...
- UNSMIL: 63 people killed by landmines in Libya in 2025
April 5, 2026
A total of 63 people, including 21 children, were killed in landmine-related incidents in Libya during 2025, according to the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Libyan-led efforts to secure and better manage weapons and ammunition stockpiles and to clear explosive remnants. In a statement issued Saturday marking the ...
- Ukraine: Over 100,000 sq km of land still potentially dangerous due to mines
April 5, 2026
More than 100,000 square kilometers of Ukraine’s territory remain potentially hazardous. The Office of the President of Ukraine reported this on Facebook on the occasion of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. “More than 100,000 square kilometers of our country still remain potentially dangerous. But Ukraine is doing everything to increase ...
- Iraq reports 30K casualties from unexploded ordnance since 2003
April 4, 2026
Landmines and unexploded ordnance continue to kill and maim in Iraq, where thousands of victims over decades underscore one of the country’s most persistent post-war dangers. The threat has lingered for years despite international awareness campaigns and clearance efforts, with the United Nations marking April 4 as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in ...
- Syria: Over 110,000 Mines and war remnants cleared since the start of 2026
April 4, 2026
More than 110,000 mines and explosive remnants of war have been dismantled or destroyed across Syria since the beginning of 2026 by engineering units of the Syrian Arab Army, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Defense on the occasion of the International Day for Mine Awareness. The Ministry’s Media and Communication Department told SANA ...
- Mine action clearing the path to climate resilience and lasting peace
April 2, 2026
In parts of Cambodia, land that once lay unused for years is slowly being reclaimed. For those living decades with the legacy of conflict, fields and forests were not simply unproductive–they were unsafe. Families avoided their own land, knowing that what lay beneath the soil could be deadly. Across many parts of the world this reality ...
- Invest in Peace; Invest in Mine Action
April 1, 2026
The world marks the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on 4 April, reaffirming the essential role mine action plays in securing peace, enabling recovery, and driving sustainable development. This year’s global theme, “Invest in Peace, Invest in Mine Action,” highlights a fundamental truth: peace cannot be sustained where landmines, cluster munition ...
- Every Step Could be a Threat: Children and Explosive Remnants of War
April 1, 2026
In conflict and post-conflict settings, children face daily the risk of being killed or maimed from mines and explosive remnants of war. On the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Vanessa Frazier, calls for urgent and renewed attention and resources for ...
- Thailand: Mine clearance stepped up on Sa Kaeo border as more than 60,000 sq m remain high-risk
March 28, 2026
Burapha Task Force says it has cleared 39,100 sq m of a nearly 100,000-sq-m suspected hazardous area on the Thai-Cambodian border in Sa Kaeo, but more than 60% remains dangerous. A POMZ-2 anti-personnel mine was recently found and removed. Burapha Task Force, through Humanitarian Mine Action Unit 1, on Saturday entered the Thai-Cambodian border area to ...
- UN mine action chiefs for Ethiopia and Sudan call for more funding
March 19, 2026
The heads of United Nations landmine action programmes in Ethiopia and Sudan have called for more funding and awareness of contamination by munitions. Both say mines kill and maim a disproportionate number of children, adding that people cannot return to safety without addressing explosive hazards. Speaking at UN headquarters in New York, the Ethiopia chief said ...
- Vietnam destroys 27 unexploded bombs in operation backed by Norway
March 11, 2026
A total of 27 pieces of unexploded wartime ordnance were safely destroyed in central Vietnam on 10 March, Vietnam National Mine Action Center reports. The demolition marked another step in the long effort to clear unexploded ordnance that still threatens communities decades after the war. The operation was carried out by the Vietnam National Mine Action ...
- Cambodia: CMAC, NPA sign deal to bolster demining efforts
March 9, 2026
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday to expand training and technical support for mine detection dogs and explosive ordnance clearance. The agreement, titled “Capacity development and partnership project on mine and explosive detection dog programme”, was signed at CMAC headquarters by CMAC Director-General Heng ...
- Ukraine: Demining Units Clear 767 Hectares in February 2026
March 4, 2026
During February 2026, the demining units of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine cleared 767 hectares of liberated territories from explosive remnants of war. According to the press service of the Main Directorate for Mine Action, Civil Protection and Environmental Safety, this message came through the official Telegram channel. In particular, safety was restored on 743.49 ...
- Cambodia celebrates 33 years of progress in clearing 3,541 square kilometers of landmines
March 3, 2026
Over the past 33 years, from 1992 to 2025, Cambodia has successfully cleared and repurposed 3,541 square kilometers of land formerly contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants of war. This significant achievement was highlighted in a special message from Prime Minister Hun Manet on February 23, 2026, marking the occasion of the 27th National Mine ...
- Croatia declared free of landmines after 31 years
February 27, 2026
Interior Minister Davor Božinović announced Friday that Croatia is officially free of landmines. Thirty-one years after the end of the Homeland War, all known minefields have been cleared — a major milestone for the country. The decades-long effort came at a heavy cost. Over three decades of painstaking and dangerous work, 208 people lost their lives, ...
- Syria begins mine clearance at UNESCO-listed Ruwayha site in Idlib
February 25, 2026
Engineering teams have begun removing mines and unexploded ordnance from the archaeological site of Ruwayha in southern Idlib, the Syrian Arab Republic’s state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday. The operation is part of a broader plan by the Idlib Directorate of Antiquities to protect and preserve historical sites across the Jabal Al-Zawiya region, which includes ...
- 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 ...
- Belgium gives €1.35 million to UN mine clearance in Iraq and Syria
February 18, 2026
Belgium contributed €1.35 million last year to mine clearance work by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq and Syria, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday. Since 2019, Belgium has invested more than €13 million in mine action projects in the two countries. After years of heavy conflict, Iraq and Syria remain contaminated ...
- 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 ...