Deaths and injuries from landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) surged to a four-year high in 2024, driven largely by escalating conflicts in Syria and Myanmar, according to the Landmine Monitor 2025 report released Monday (October 1).

The report documented more than 6,000 incidents worldwide last year, including 1,945 deaths and 4,325 injuries, the highest annual total since 2020. Civilians accounted for nearly 90 percent of all victims, almost half of them women and children.

Myanmar Emerges as the Global Epicenter of Landmine Casualties

Myanmar recorded over 2,000 incidents, the highest globally. The report attributes the rise to intensified mine-laying by both the Myanmar military and multiple ethnic armed groups amid the rapidly shifting battlefield landscape.

A parallel investigation by Narinjara News, operating in Rakhine State, reinforces these findings. Narinjara has documented a sharp rise in civilian casualties, particularly Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine villagers as fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar junta spreads into previously unaffected rural areas.

According to Narinjara’s field correspondents, mine incidents have surged along key transit routes in Buthidaung, Rathedaung and Maungdaw, where displaced families travelling on foot inadvertently trigger hidden explosive devices. Community leaders told Narinjara that both the military and AA forces appear to be deploying landmines around newly contested zones, turning daily movement into “a deadly gamble.”

Humanitarian workers warn that the collapse of local governance structures has left no authority responsible for clearing the explosives, leaving villagers to either risk their lives or remain trapped.

BOB Post