A report published by the Landmine Monitor on Wednesday said that Syria recorded for the first time the largest number of landmines victims last year, ahead of Afghanistan.
And (AFP) quoted the Observatory as saying that since Landmine Monitor (a coalition of NGOs) began monitoring in 1999, the largest number of casualties was documented last year in Syria (2729 dead and injured), which is a country that is not a signatory. on the Mine Ban Treaty.
So far, Afghanistan and Colombia, signatories to the treaty, have been at the top of the rankings.
The observatory clarified in its report, with regard to Syria, that, during the relevant period, the use of anti-personnel mines by Syrian government forces or Russian forces participating in joint military operations in Syria was not documented or confirmed.
The observatory added, “It is likely that non-state armed groups in Syria continued to use landmines, as in previous years, but the limited access to lands under the control of non-state armed groups made it difficult to confirm the occurrence of new use of mines.”
The Mine Ban Treaty has been part of international law since 1999, with 164 member states today. It prohibits the use of landmines that explode by human contact, as well as improvised explosive devices that activate when a person is present, near, or on contact.
According to the observatory, only one country, Burma, which is not a signatory to the agreement, used anti-personnel mines during the period documented by the report from mid-2020 to October 2021.
During the same period, antipersonnel mines were used by non-state armed groups in at least six countries: Afghanistan, Colombia, India, Burma, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
For the sixth year in a row, the year 2020 worldwide recorded a very large number of mine casualties, some of them homemade, in addition to remnants of cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war, according to the report.
According to the observatory, at least 7,073 mine/ERW casualties were recorded (compared to 5,853 in 2019 and 3,456 in 2013, the lowest level ever recorded). Among these victims, 2,492 dead and 4,561 injured. Civilians made up the vast majority of victims.
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