News – February 2026

  • Ukraine: Meet the demining dog helping children stay safe

    February 23, 2026

    Ukraine is the world’s most heavily mined country, with about 23% of its land potentially contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). Since February 2022, at least 1,660 civilians — including 179 children — have been killed or injured by mines and explosive remnants of war. In frontline cities like Kharkiv, children are learning how to ...

  • Sudan: Landmine explosion in Southern Kordofan kills nine

    February 23, 2026

    A landmine explosion killed nine people in Sudan on Sunday, including three children, as they were riding in an auto-rickshaw along a road in the frontline region of Kordofan, a medical source told AFP. The war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in April 2023, has left Sudan strewn ...

  • From landmines to algorithms: how Japan is helping Cambodia clear its war legacy

    February 23, 2026

    For more than three decades, landmines have remained one of Cambodia’s most painful legacies of war—hidden beneath rice fields, forest paths and village outskirts, long after the guns fell silent. Yet as the kingdom edges closer to its ambitious goal of becoming mine-free by 2030, one partnership stands out for both its longevity and quiet evolution: ...

  • Azerbaijan: Over 1,600 hectares of land cleared of mines last week

    February 23, 2026

    A total of 28 anti-tank mines, 175 anti-personnel mines and 796 unexploded ordnance were detected and neutralized in Azerbaijan’s liberated territories from February 16 to 22. total of 1,616.5 hectares of land were cleared of mines during the specified period. Mine clearance operations were carried out by ANAMA, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Emergency ...

  • Poland prepares to lay mines to defend eastern borders from Russian threat

    February 23, 2026

    Poland on Friday formally withdrew from the Ottawa Treaty, an international convention that bans anti-personnel landmines, paving the way for their deployment along its eastern borders. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the country aimed to be able to mine its borders within 48 hours in the event of a threat. Poland plans to deploy the devices ...

  • Cambodia: CMAC aims to clear 120 sq km of mines, UXO this year

    February 23, 2026

    Cambodia’s leading demining organisation has accelerated efforts to clear over 120 square kilometres of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) this year, deploying more than 800 personnel to communities affected by a territorial conflict with Thailand. The move comes nearly two months after the December 27 ceasefire paused cross-border clashes but left thousands of people at risk. ...

  • Iraq pledges to clear all landmines by 2028 despite funding shortfall

    February 22, 2026

    Iraq remains committed to clearing all landmines and war remnants from its territory by the end of 2028, the Ministry of Environment said Sunday, warning that a lack of funding poses a major challenge to meeting the deadline. Iktifaa al-Hassnawi, the ministry’s administrative undersecretary, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency that Iraq is internationally committed to ...

  • South Korea: Presidential Security Service secures US patent for AI-based X-ray detection technology

    February 22, 2026

    The Presidential Security Service (PSS) obtained a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its self-developed artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray hazardous materials detection technology, the PSS announced Sunday. The PSS expects the U.S. patent to accelerate research and development efforts aimed at deploying the technology in the field. The PSS said it ...