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Mine Action Weekly, 28 September - 4 October 2026

Writer: Markus Schindler
Markus Schindler
Oct 5
16 min read

This week’s Mine Action Weekly examines a sector confronting persistent contamination while adapting to increasingly complex threats. From renewed clearance in Lebanon and Syria to Gaza’s hazardous rubble and Yemen’s intensifying conflict, the edition highlights advances in detection technology, innovative partnerships and community-informed approaches. The newsletter also spotlights veteran reintegration, women in mine action, and the vital role of sustained funding.



Disclaimers:


  • This newsletter features news reports and articles from a variety of sources. Mention of these resources does not indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of others. I do not claim responsibility or credit for these works, and do not vouch for the information contained in them.

  • This newsletter is created and managed in a personal capacity, independent of my professional affiliation with Fondation suisse de déminage (FSD).

🗞️ Weekly News Roundup

The weekly news roundup showcases a low-down of the top mine action news and insights from the past seven days.

1. EO Contamination, Clearance & Land Release


🇦🇫 Afghanistan: UNDP, Partners Work to Clear Explosive Hazards in Northeastern Afghanistan

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and its partners are continuing efforts to clear explosive remnants of war and raise public awareness about the dangers of mines and unexploded ordnance in Kunduz, a province in northeastern Afghanistan.


🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: The war beneath the ground: Why does Azerbaijan’s mine problem still persist?

The mine threat in Azerbaijan’s territories liberated from occupation remains one of the main obstacles to human life, the Great Return, economic development, and the future of the region even years after the end of the war. The scale of the problem is not limited to mines alone – clearing explosive devices, booby traps, ammunition, and other explosive remnants of war, as well as ensuring the safety of contaminated areas, is a long-term process requiring significant resources.


During mine-clearing operations a total of 208 anti-personnel mines, 29 anti-tank mines, and 1436 unexploded ordnances (UXOs) were detected and neutralised from September 21 to 27, the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) said in a statement. The agency noted that a total of 1,385.8 hectares of territory were cleared of mines and UXOs during the reporting period.


🇧🇦 🇷🇸 🇪🇺 Bosnia and Herzegovina & Serbia: Brcko: Sava Demining Contracts Signed for Right Bank

The Sava, the waterway linking Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, got contracts on September 29 in Brcko to demine its right bank, land that has stayed off limits because of mines for more than three decades. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Communications and Transport Edin Forto signed the contracts with the contractors, and the work covers municipalities in Republika Srpska, among them Kozarska Dubica, Srbac, Gradiska and Brod.


🇰🇭 Cambodia: Mine-free land presented to villagers in south-western Cambodia with Indian support

Land cleared of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXOs) has been formally returned to residents of Kaoh Pao village in Koh Kong province’s Pak Khlang commune, following a clearance project supported by an Indian government Quick Impact Project (QIP).


🇮🇶 Iraq: Our Deminers in Iraq Pave the Way for Return

FSD profiles its all-female demining team in the Dibis area of Iraq, whose members have themselves been affected by the conflict. The team clears contaminated land daily so that families can regain access to their fields, move around safely and, for some, return home.


🇱🇧 Lebanon: MAG resumes operations in South Lebanon

MAG has resumed explosive ordnance clearance in southern Lebanon, starting with non-technical survey in Zahrani and Nabatieh and deploying its first Mine Action Team to residential areas, after suspending work when hostilities escalated in March 2026. The Lebanese Mine Action Centre reports about 2 million square metres of new contamination since 2023.


The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said its implementing partners had cleared 14,066 items of explosive ordnance from the Al-Sweiheli farm in Misrata between January and September this year.


🇵🇸 Palestine: Unexploded ordnances left by Israel in Gaza pose a constant danger to Palestinians

Khuloud Sulaiman documents the continuing civilian toll of unexploded ordnance in Gaza, including children injured or killed after encountering explosive remnants while returning to damaged homes or clearing rubble. Gaza also lacks sufficient EOD expertise and equipment: local officials estimate 50–60 million tonnes of rubble may be contaminated, while Humanity & Inclusion estimates clearance could take 20–30 years.


Sudanese security authorities have disposed of more than 12,000 unexploded shells and collected thousands of wrecked vehicles across Khartoum State, the interior ministry said on Saturday, as part of an effort to restore order in the capital.


🇸🇾 Syria: Second phase of mine clearance operations begins in Serêkaniyê and its countryside

Mine clearance and removal of war remnants operations in the countryside of Serêkaniyê, Tel Tamr, and Zarghan have entered their second phase, according to the Mine Action Centre in Hasakah. The operations target villages along the line extending from Tel Tamr and Zarghan towards the city of Serêkaniyê.


U.S. Marines with 3rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company and members of Thailand Mine Action Center completed a Deploy for Training bilateral explosive ordnance disposal exercise at Phu Lam Yai Training Ground, Sept. 4, 2026.


Another 51.2524 hectares of land in the Mykolaiv region have been officially cleared of mines by NIBULON and are being returned to safe use. Certificates transferring responsibility for the territories cleared of explosive ordnance have been issued by the Mine Action Centre.


🇺🇦 Ukraine: A Centre for Training Dogs to Detect Mines Is Being Created in Poltava Region

In the Poltava region, a "Training Cynological Centre" is being established, where dogs will be prepared to detect mines during territory demining. During a meeting with the State Emergency Service, international partners presented a detailed project of the future centre’s infrastructure. Participants also analyzed work results, identified priorities for the next quarter, and agreed on technical and operational issues.


🇺🇦 Ukraine: Village 90% Mined by Russian Forces Is Safe to Live In Again

Hrakove village in Kharkiv region, where about 90% of the territory was mined after liberation, has been cleared by the Center for Humanitarian Demining with funding from Help Ukraine Now and UNITED24 donors through the "Step by Step" campaign. Streets, parks, schools, football fields and a kindergarten are safe to use again.


The article examines Howard Buffett’s early investment in Ukraine’s demining effort, where 48 bulldozers proved unsuitable for remote clearance. Rather than abandon the equipment, Buffett repurposed the machines for railway repairs. The experience reflects his broader approach to mine action: understand needs firsthand, accept mistakes and adapt quickly when solutions do not work as intended.


🇻🇳 Viet Nam: Landmine and UXO clearance project begins in Huế

PeaceTrees Vietnam and the Huế City Union of Friendship Organisations have launched a project running to 2030 to address the consequences of wartime bombs, mines and UXO in Huế. Under the project, PeaceTrees Vietnam plans to clear landmine and UXO contamination in the city, adding to clearance capacity in central Viet Nam.


🇾🇪 Yemen: Masam continues demining despite military operations intensifying in Yemen

Project Masam continues operating despite intensified military activity in Yemen, with 45 teams deployed across government-controlled areas. Special task and rapid-response teams remain on standby, while EORE has been intensified for vulnerable communities. Since 2018, Masam has cleared nearly 593,500 mines and other explosive threats and released 85.8 million m².


🇾🇪 Yemen: Project Masam clears 1,256 explosive threats in Yemen during first week of October 2026

Project Masam cleared 1,256 explosive items between 26 September and 2 October, including 14 anti-personnel mines, 41 anti-tank mines and 1,201 UXO, across 157,127 square metres in nine governorates; Mukalla alone accounted for 894 UXO. Its cumulative total since 2018 reached 594,745, and all 45 teams continue working despite intensified fighting.


🇾🇪 Yemen: Yemeni families fleeing renewed fighting at risk from unexploded landmines and bombs

The HALO Trust warned that civilians, including children, fleeing intensified Houthi attacks around Taiz face grave risk from landmines and unexploded bombs as they move to safer areas. HALO notes Yemen has recorded the third-highest number of landmine casualties globally over the past decade, compounded by mass displacement and hunger.


Other EO Finds from Around the Globe:


2. Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE)


🇰🇭 Cambodia: Alert Sounded as Floodwaters Sweep up Buried Explosives

The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) called on authorities to take intensive measures after the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology’s reported the potential flooding caused by Bavi T2609 and Haishen T2611 storms. Explosive ordnance has been encountered as floodwater flowed from areas contaminated by landmines, anti-vehicle landmines, cluster munitions and other remnants of war.

3. Accidents, Survivors, Victim Assistance


Nick Pond, Head of Mine Action at UNAMA, said: “Afghanistan has the 3rd highest explosive ordnance casualty rate in the world, with around 50 people killed or injured every month, of which almost 80% are children. That means there is at least one casualty every single day, and that casualty is most likely to be a child."


🇦🇫 Afghanistan: UN: 64 Civilians Killed or Injured by Explosive Remnants in Eastern Afghanistan This Year

The United Nations says 64 incidents involving explosive remnants of war and unexploded ordnance have been recorded in eastern Afghanistan since the beginning of 2026, resulting in 64 civilian casualties.


🇰🇭 Cambodia: I Knew Them: Song Kosal… The Girl from the Rice Fields

Dr. Ghassan Shahrour recounts Song Kosal’s journey from losing her leg to a landmine as a child in Cambodia’s rice fields to becoming a prominent youth advocate for the global mine ban. Through the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, she brought survivors’ voices to international forums and helped build support for the 1997 Ottawa Treaty.


🇭🇷 Croatia: MPs back changes for mine-clearance workers, opposition calls for broader rights

Members of the Parliament on Thursday backed amendments to the Mine Action Act to equalise the rights of injured mine-clearance workers with those of Croatian war veterans with disabilities, while the opposition warned that the amendments did not address all the workers' demands.


🇰🇷 🇰🇵 South Korea: S. Korea blames N.K. for DMZ mine blast; UNC cites armistice breach over active mine

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff blamed North Korea for the 21 September DMZ blast that injured three soldiers, saying North Korean resin anti-personnel mines planted south of the MDL were the cause. The UN Command confirmed an armistice violation over a fourth, active mine found during a joint probe. Pyongyang denied involvement.


🇺🇦 Ukraine: SSTS refused the family of the sapper killed during demining in Kherson region to pay 15 million UAH – the court sided with the mother and wife

A Dnipro district administrative court ruled unlawful the State Special Transport Service's refusal to pay UAH 15 million in one-time financial assistance to the mother and wife of a sapper killed during demining in Petropavlivka, Kherson region, in November 2024. It ordered the service to reconsider their applications.


Other EO Accidents from Around the Globe:


4. Advocacy, Policy, Conventions, Strategies and Standards


CMAC Director-General Heng Ratana welcomed the declaration of the CCM Third Review Conference in Vientiane, which condemns the use of cluster munitions by any actor under any circumstances and calls for respect of international humanitarian and human rights law, stating that such use violates international law.


The International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Enhancement of the Preah Vihear Temple urged Thailand to share firing directions and data on aerial bombings and ground fire to support clearance of landmines and explosive remnants at the World Heritage site. Experts met in Siem Reap to assess conflict damage and restoration needs.


The European Commission is preparing a strategy on unexploded ordnance in European seas, setting out how risks will be identified, monitored and remediated, DG MARE's Iglika Yakova told the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Security and Defence. The Baltic Sea will be the first focus area, with the Black Sea to follow.


🇸🇾 Syria: Demining Syria: How Not to Let Word Games Bury the Work

Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Environment Ihor Bezkaravainyi argues that international mine action in Syria must build local capacity rather than simply import established models. Drawing on Ukraine’s experience, there is a need for greater involvement in planning, more flexible approaches to demining, and technologies and governance systems adapted to local realities in order to demine Syria.


🇬🇧 United Kingdom: MAG highlights vital role of humanitarian action at Labour Party Conference

MAG joined The HALO Trust and partners at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, including a reception with Development Minister Kirsty McNeill MP and a panel chaired by MAG CEO Darren Cormack. MAG argued that communities cannot rebuild amid landmine and UXO contamination, noting that 2027 marks 30 years since the Mine Ban Convention.


🌍 Global: ICRC submits Working Paper to the UN General Assembly First Committee (81st session)

The ICRC has submitted a working paper to the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security. It highlights the civilian toll of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas and notes that anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, once thought relegated to the past, continue to inflict appalling harm.

5. Stockpile Destruction, Demolition, WAM and Disarmament

6. Research, Innovation, Technology and Market Trends


🇦🇺 Australia: Explosive-Sensing Technology Could Transform Landmine Detection

Australian company MRead, working with CSIRO, has developed a detector designed to identify the chemical signatures of explosives rather than simply detecting metal. The technology could reduce false alarms and excavation, potentially making clearance faster and safer. Its development has included testing in former minefields, with Ukraine among the countries expected to benefit from the technology.


🇨🇴 Colombia: Improving operational effectiveness in Colombia through community-informed approaches

The GICHD has released a publication on community-informed approaches to improving operational effectiveness in Colombia, where mine action is closely tied to recovery and peacebuilding. It addresses how operations can serve the most affected territories, including areas with continuing insecurity and limited access.


🇩🇪 Germany: Diehl Defence Acquires Aerial Imagery Firm for Unexploded Ordnance Surveys

Diehl Defence, through its subsidiary Tauber Group, has acquired Luftbilddatenbank Dr. Carls GmbH, which uses wartime aerial photographs and archival records to identify likely UXO contamination in Germany and Austria. The deal extends Tauber's services into preliminary site assessment ahead of on-site detection and clearance.


🇺🇦 Ukrainian Armored Vehicles Equipped With PIDRYV Electromagnetic Mine-Clearing Systems

Ukraine has developed the PIDRYV electromagnetic mine-clearing system, now fitted to armoured vehicles, to counter mines with magnetic-influence fuzes that detonate without direct contact as a vehicle approaches. The manufacturer says this threat was the system's primary design task.


🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Welsh bomb disposal research finds veterans face higher cancer risk

Research at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David into cancer risk among former British Army ammunition technicians and bomb disposal personnel is gaining wider significance after the Ministry of Defence launched a major study of cancer incidence and deaths among around 1.4 million serving personnel and veterans.


The US Naval Research Laboratory completed its first live-site demonstration of an autonomous underwater vehicle-based sonar system designed to locate UXO, at a Navy munitions response site near Vieques, Puerto Rico. It was the system's first test at a live munitions response site.


🇻🇳 Vietnam uses GIS for priority setting in post-war bomb, mine clearance

A workshop on applying geographic information system (GIS) technology for priority setting and decision support in post-war mine action was held in Hanoi on Wednesday, aiming to share initial results of a pilot study in central Quang Ngai Province. The workshop was co-organised by the Vietnam National Mine Action Centre (VNMAC) and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA).

7. Mine Action Assistance, Funding and Cooperation


🇰🇭 🇺🇸 Cambodia: U.S. has provided over $235 million for mine clearance since 1993

US Embassy Chargé d'Affaires Aleks Zittle held talks with Siem Reap provincial leaders on 11 September covering law enforcement, health, heritage and landmine clearance, with the embassy highlighting more than US$235 million in US support for mine clearance in Cambodia since 1993.


🇨🇴 Colombia: HALO Trust partners with Rainforest Trust and Amazon Conservation Team

The HALO Trust, Rainforest Trust and Amazon Conservation Team have launched a US$1 million, three-year initiative to clear landmines from 18,000 hectares of ancestral land in Colombia's Meta region. Clearance will allow the Sol Naciente and Nuevo Milenio communities, 81 families in total, to have the areas designated as Indigenous Reserves. Read more here.


🇮🇶 🇸🇾 Iraq and Syria: ITF Monitoring Visit to Iraq and Syria

An ITF delegation led by Director Tomaž Lovrenčič, with Slovenia's ambassador to Iraq, visited Iraq and Syria on 16–22 September. It extended ITF's MoU with the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency, observed mechanical demining in Sulaymaniyah, and reviewed partner Reachout's clearance, risk education and NTS in Syria. Slovenia, France and the Republic of Korea fund the work.


🇱🇦 🇳🇴 Laos: Norwegian Embassy visits UXO clearance work in southern Laos

Marianne Rabe Knævelsrud, First Secretary at the Norwegian Embassy in Hanoi, visited Norwegian People's Aid in Vientiane and observed UXO clearance in Paksong district, Champasak province. Norway continues to fund NPA's work removing remnants of war from communities in Laos's southern provinces.


🇸🇸 South Sudan: Funding shortfalls threaten mine clearance efforts in South Sudan

The United Nations Chief of Mine Action in South Sudan has warned that limited financial support is already undermining efforts to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance across the country. Zehrudin Sukanovic said mine action remains essential for protecting civilians, supporting the return of displaced populations, and enabling national recovery.


🇱🇰 🇯🇵 Sri Lanka: Japan grants $ 447,432 for Northern Province demining

Japan has provided $ 447,432 (about Rs. 148 million) to support humanitarian demining in the Northern Province, the Embassy of Japan in Colombo said. Japanese Ambassador Akio Isomata signed the grant contract on 29 September, 2026 with Skavita Humanitarian Assistance and Relief Project (SHARP) Program Manager Sarath Jayawardhana, under Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GGP) scheme.


🇺🇦 🇸🇪 Ukraine: Sweden has announced a call for proposals to support demining efforts in Ukraine

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) has announced a competitive call for proposals to support mine action in Ukraine. The deadline for submitting concept proposals is October 26, 2026.

8. Other News


🇰🇷 🇰🇵 South Korea: Gov't discussed mine clearance for N. Korea railway aid while Pyongyang was laying mines, lawmaker says

The South Korean government discussed ways to clear landmines in support of a North Korean railway restoration project around the same time Pyongyang was believed to be laying mines along the MDL, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye said Thursday.


🇸🇩 Sudan: Wafaa's story: "I do HMA for the next generation"

DRC profiles Wafaa, a 27-year-old from Dilling, South Kordofan, training as an EOD Level 3 operator with JASMAR's Mobile Task Team 2 and the only woman on her course. The training covers fragmentation hazards, phosphorus ordnance and dropped drones, reflecting Sudan's growing explosive contamination; women remain under-represented in the country's HMA sector.


🇸🇩 Sudan: Adapting to a changing threat: Motasim's story

After nearly two decades in humanitarian mine action, Sudanese EOD specialist Motasim is adapting to an increasingly complex threat environment. His latest EOD Level 3 training covers building searches, fuzes and buried items, while Sudan faces growing UXO contamination, changing weapon systems, drones and explosive hazards in urban areas.


🇺🇦 Ukraine: Green Beret who survived an IED now clears Ukraine's landmines

Retired Green Beret and Silver Star recipient Ryan Hendrickson survived an IED blast in Afghanistan before returning to Ukraine to clear mines and explosive remnants. Through Tip of the Spear Landmine Removal, he has made 13 trips to Ukraine and is now expanding a veterans’ humanitarian corps combining demining with reconstruction and other recovery work.


UNDP Resident Representative Auke Lootsma highlights humanitarian mine action as an important pathway for Ukrainian veterans to rebuild civilian careers. More than 100 veterans and family members have received training and employment opportunities in roles including geospatial analysis, mine-risk education and demining equipment operation, linking reintegration directly with Ukraine’s recovery.


🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Mine Clearance Experts Receive UK Humanitarian Medal for Lifesaving Work in Gaza

Seven Humanity & Inclusion staff have been awarded the Humanitarian Medal, approved by HM The King, for their lifesaving work in Gaza. The seven colleagues (Glenn Cripps, Simon Elmont, David Hilton, John Montgomery, Rhiain Moses, Gary Toombs and Daniel Young) who worked on Humanity & Inclusion’s emergency response protecting civilians in Gaza are among some of the first recipients of the prestigious new medal – and the very first mine clearance team to be honoured.

🎥 Video


Britain's most dangerous shipwreck is full of unexploded bombs - now something's being done about it.

📅 Upcoming Events, Courses & Trainings


There are a number of interesting events for the mine action sector in the coming months, and some of the deadlines are approaching quickly.


  • States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention will meet in Geneva from 30 November to 4 December 2026 for the Twenty-Third Meeting of the States Parties, reviewing implementation of the Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan, Article 5 clearance obligations and compliance issues. Learn more here.

  • The Mine Action: Innovation, Sustainability, and Global Partnerships speaker series is structured to address landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) challenges through a strictly humanitarian, civilian-protection-oriented framework, with clearly defined ethical, legal, and operational boundaries between humanitarian and military applications of technology. Dates are: FEB 19 | MAR 19 | APR 16 | MAY 21 | JUN 18 | JUL 16 | AUG 20 | SEP 17 | OCT 15 | NOV 19 | DEC 17. Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM ET. Location: Virtual (Zoom Webinar). Register here.

🔔 Always Stay in the Know – Never Miss an Update


This newsletter is subscribed to by over 3600+ dedicated readers on LinkedIn. To join this community of mine action professionals and supporters, go ahead and subscribe to the Mine Action Weekly newsletter. You can find all editions up to February 2026 on LinkedIn, and from March 2026 onwards here on Mine Action News.


Please reach out to me if there are any mine action news, journal articles, events, or updates that you would like to suggest for the next edition of Mine Action Weekly. You can find (and follow / connect with) me here. See you next Monday!

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