In 2017, Pakistan reported the highest number of casualties in the world due to landmine explosions, mostly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as the country continues to hold one of the biggest stockpiles of landmines in the world, despite human rights activists protesting it.
A large number of landmines in the country are remnants of the war on terrorism. Pakistan has also used landmines on its borders due to conflicts with India, while non-state actors have also planted landmines.
Innocent civilians and mostly children suffer the most due to landmine explosions.
Two days ago, a child was injured reportedly in an army-planted landmine explosion near a checkpoint in Bara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The landmine planted by the army near a checkpoint for security reasons exploded, severely injuring the child.
The child lost both his arms in the blast.
In February this year, at least two children were wounded when a landmine exploded in Mir Ali, a tehsil in North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 14-year-old Mohsin Ahmed and 10-year-old Amir Aziz were playing near Al-Quresh Petrol Pump when the landmine exploded due to which both the children were critically injured.
In 2022, at least three people were killed and five others injured in a landmine blast in the same area when three people riding the same bike white the landmine.
In June 2021, a petition was filed in the Peshawar High Court by a group of lawyers on account of the killing of 800 people and 4000 cattle in South Waziristan due to 178 mine blasts over the years
In 2021, according to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), KP has already recorded a total of at least seven incidents of landmine explosions resulting in 14 deaths and over 16 injured.
Members of the rights movements like the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) have continuously urged the state authorities to remove landmines from Waziristan and other parts of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, affected by the war in North-West Pakistan.
April 4 marked the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
Pakistan is not a party to the Mine Ban Treaty – a global agreement to ban the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of antipersonnel mines.
