Global Landmine Casualties Reach Four-Year High as Conflicts Intensify

Reuters

Old landmines that Thailand says were detonated and recovered near the disputed border between Thailand and Cambodia, 20 August 2025.

Deaths and injuries caused by landmines and unexploded ordnance reached a four-year high in 2024, driven largely by escalating conflicts in Syria and Myanmar, according to the Landmine Monitor 2025 report released on Monday.

The report recorded more than 6,000 casualties last year, including 1,945 deaths and 4,325 injuries — the highest annual total since 2020. Civilians accounted for nearly 90% of all victims, with women and children making up almost half.

Syria saw a sharp rise in incidents, with returning residents facing growing risks from unexploded ordnance following the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad. Myanmar recorded the world’s highest number of landmine-related incidents — more than 2,000 — due to increased use by both government forces and non-state armed groups.

The surge in casualties comes as several European countries consider withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention, which bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. The treaty, which entered into force in 1999, has 166 state parties.

Ukraine announced its withdrawal from the Convention on 29 June, with military analysts arguing that doing so could help slow Russian advances. Russia and Myanmar, which are not signatories, continue to use landmines extensively, the report said.

Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland are also taking steps to exit the treaty, citing heightened security threats from Russia. “A few states have taken actions that concretely threaten the continued health of the convention,” Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, the report’s ban policy editor, told journalists in Geneva.

The report also warns that cuts to donor funding — including reductions from the United States — have led to diminished survivor support and the closure of several mine-action programmes. U.S. funding previously constituted around one-third of global contributions.

Mine-action initiatives have already ended in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Colombia, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe due to reduced financial support. Looking ahead, the report cautions that all states could face further cuts in 2026.

States party to the Mine Ban Treaty are meeting in Geneva this week to review implementation and address emerging challenges.

Source: Reuters



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