{
  "id": 3434026,
  "title": "Despite international bans, landmines are back in force",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/despite-international-bans-landmines-are-back-in-force-3434026",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-26T05:18:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "DW News",
    "slug": "dw-news",
    "url": "https://www.dw.com/en/despite-international-bans-landmines-are-back-in-force/a-78501702?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Despite international bans, landmines are making a resurgence, posing a significant threat to civilians, especially children. In 2025, more than 5,000 people, mainly civilians, were killed or injured by landmines or unexploded ordnance. South Sudan saw 90% of its victims last year being children. Landmines are designed to injure adults, not kill them, as injured soldiers strain an enemy country's resources more than dead soldiers. However, in peacetime, they continue to pose a deadly threat to civilians, particularly children. Decades after the Yugoslav wars, people in former Yugoslavia, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina, still face landmine casualties. The Ottawa Treaty, signed in 1997 by over 120 countries, banned the use of anti-personnel landmines in 1999. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, five European NATO countries and Ukraine have withdrawn from the treaty, raising concerns about the treaty's legitimacy. Despite legal uncertainties, Ukraine reportedly uses mines on a smaller scale than Russia. Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia also withdrew from the treaty, with Poland planning to mine its eastern borders with Russia. Modern anti-personnel mines have advanced technologies that complicate demining efforts. The Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor has noted that while mines from past conflicts are being cleared, new mines are being laid, particularly in Ukraine and Myanmar. Humanitarian arms control, including the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, was the last area with effective arms control, but it is now facing significant challenges.",
  "summary": "It was considered a major achievement when most countries in the world agreed to ban anti-personnel mines in the 1990s. But given the Russia-Ukraine war, the situation in Europe is changing.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "DW English (Top Stories)",
        "title": "Despite international bans, landmines are back in force",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/despite-international-bans-landmines-are-back-in-force",
        "published": "2026-08-26T05:18:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}