Global landmine deaths hit 4-year peak
Shafaq News – Geneva
Civilian casualties from landmines and unexploded ordnance surged to their highest level in four years, topping 6,000 deaths and injuries in 2024, the Landmine Monitor reported in a new assessment.
The report recorded 1,945 fatalities and 4,325 injuries, nearly 90% of them civilians and around half women and children. The sharp rise was driven primarily by mine blasts in Syria and Myanmar, neither of which is party to the global ban.
Returning civilians in Syria face growing lethal contamination from abandoned munitions following the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad, the Monitor said. Myanmar logged the highest number of incidents — more than 2,000 — amid expanding mine use by government forces and armed groups.
The 1999 Ottawa Treaty, which bans the use, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel mines, now binds 166 states — about 85% of the world. But global support is fraying. Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland are preparing legal withdrawal, citing increased military threats from Russia — a shift the report describes as a dangerous fracture in the regime.
Ukraine formally left the treaty in June, with analysts noting the decision may slow Russian advances as Kyiv struggles into a fourth year of full-scale war.
Citing activists, the report urged governments to maintain a universal ban on a weapon that kills indiscriminately long after fighting ends. It also warn ed that donor funding cuts — including from the United States — have forced survivor-support programs to close and reduced humanitarian clearance efforts, further increasing risk.
States parties to the treaty are expected to convene in Geneva this week to debate compliance, funding, and the mounting pressure created by high-casualty conflicts and strategic withdrawals.
