Syria

Last Updated: 28 November 2013

Mine Ban Policy

Mine ban policy overview

Mine Ban Treaty status

State not party

Pro-mine ban UNGA voting record

Abstained on Resolution 67/32 in December 2012

Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings

Did not attend the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in December 2012 or the intersessional meetings in May 2013

Key developments

Government forces are using antipersonnel landmines in the internal conflict that began in 2011. Rebel forces are using victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as well as antivehicle mines

Policy

The Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Its position has not changed in recent years. While expressing concern for the plight of mine victims and support for risk education and other efforts to protect civilians, the Syrian government has stated that it views antipersonnel mines as necessary weapons for national defense and considers Israel’s continued annexation/occupation of part of the Golan Heights as a key reason for not joining the treaty.[1]

Syria did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty meetings in 2012 or during the first half of 2013. It has rarely participated in Mine Ban Treaty meetings as an observer, and has not done so since 2006.[2]

Syria is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Syria is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines. The size and origin of Syria’s mine stockpile is not known, but it is believed to be large and consist mainly of Soviet/Russian-manufactured mines. In 2011 and 2012, government forces used PMN-2 antipersonnel mines and TMN-46 antivehicle mines, indicating that these mines are stockpiled.

Use

After the Syrian Army was deployed to quell anti-government demonstrations in April 2011, the protests evolved into a conflict across the country that was continuing unabated as of October 2013. From late 2011 through 2012 and during 2013, Syrian government forces have used antipersonnel landmines including Soviet-manufactured PMN-2 mines, while non-state armed groups (NSAGs) have used IEDs that are victim-activated.

On 1 November 2011, a Syrian official told media, “Syria has undertaken many measures to control the borders, including planting mines.”[3] The ICBL expressed concern at Syria’s “disregard” for the safety of civilians seeking to cross the border to flee the violence in Syria, calling on Syria to immediately stop using antipersonnel mines and to clear those already emplaced.[4]

In March 2012, Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented new mine use on the Turkish border near Hasanieih (PMN-2 mines), Derwand, Jiftlek, Kherbet al-Joz—toward Alzouf and al-Sofan, Armana, Bkafla, Hatya, Darkosh, Salqin, and Azmeirin.[5] New mine use on the Lebanese border was reported in al-Buni,[6] Tel Kalakh,[7] Kneissi,[8] Heet (PMN-2 and TMN-46 mines),[9] and Masharih al-Qaa.[10]

HRW recorded injuries to three civilians in October 2012 from mine use by the government forces in the village Kharbit al-Jouz, near the Turkish border. Before they abandoned a position, the Syrian military emplaced up to 200 antipersonnel mines.[11]

An April 2013 video posted by rebel forces showing antivehicle mines laid on a road in al-Raqqa governorate asserts that government forces were responsible for the mine use.[12]

It has been alleged that government forces used antipersonnel mines during the May/June 2013 battle for Qusair, a town on the border with Lebanon. On 4 June, a witness who was helping to evacuate civilians from Qusair informed HRW that civilians were warned against attempting to enter Lebanon without using government checkpoints because routes across the border were affected by government-planted landmines.[13]

Several states have condemned Syria’s use of antipersonnel mines since early 2012, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Turkey, and the United States, as well as the European Union.

Prior to the current conflict, Syria was last believed to have used mines in the 1982 conflict with Israel in Lebanon.

Use by rebel forces

During 2012 and 2013, there were reports of Syrian rebels manufacturing and using IEDs, primarily remotely-detonated roadside bombs.[14] More information has emerged about rebel manufacture and use of victim-activated IEDs, which are prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty’s definition of an antipersonnel mine. In July 2013, Wired published a profile on rebel arms manufacturers in Aleppo, including one manufacturer who showed a reporter victim-activated IEDs (using a pressure plate) that he was working on. The metallic devices looked like “old-fashioned fire-alarm bells.”[15]

In August 2012, a Syrian rebel told the media that they intended to re-use government antipersonnel mines that have been removed from the ground.[16] The ICBL called on the Free Syrian Army and all forces involved in the conflict in Syria to forbid their combatants from using landmines.[17]

It has been alleged that rebel forces used antipersonnel landmines at Qusair, which fell to government forces in early June 2013.[18] According to the Associated Press, in the year prior to the defeat at Qusair “rebels holding the town had heavily fortified it with tunnels, mine fields, and booby traps.”[19] According to one witness from the town, the Syrian military removed mines from around Qusair and cleared roads after the town fell.[20]

There has been some rebel use of antivehicle mines, although the extent is not known. A video uploaded to YouTube in March 2013 shows an Islamic rebel group planting antivehicle mines on a bridge.[21] A video uploaded from Daraa in May 2013 shows IEDs being made from antivehicle mines and detonation cord.[22] A video uploaded on 3 October 2013 shows rebels planting antivehicle mines on a road near Tartus.[23]

 



[1] Telephone interview with Milad Atieh, Director, Department of International Organizations and Conventions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 29 January 2008; and interview with Mohd Haj Khaleel, Department of International Organizations and Conventions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Damascus, 25 February 2007. See also, statement of Syria, Seminar on Military and Humanitarian Issues Surrounding the Mine Ban Treaty, Amman, 19–21 April 2004.

[2] A Geneva-based Syrian diplomat attended as an observer the Seventh Meeting of State Parties in Geneva in September 2006.

[3] “Assad troops plant land mines on Syria-Lebanon border,” The Associated Press, 1 November 2011, www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/assad-troops-plant-land-mines-on-syria-lebanon-border-1.393200.

[4] ICBL, “ICBL publicly condemns reports of Syrian forces laying mines,” Press release, 2 November 2011, www.icbl.org/index.php/icbl/Library/News-Articles/Condemnation_Syria_allegations.

[5] “Syria: Army Planting Banned Landmines: Witnesses Describe Troops Placing Mines Near Turkey, Lebanon Borders,” HRW, 13 March 2012, www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/13/syria-army-planting-banned-landmines.

[6] “2 Syrian Nationals Wounded by Landmine at Northern Border-Crossing,” Naharnet, 9 February 2012, www.naharnet.com/stories/en/29506-2-syrian-nationals-wounded-by-landmine-at-northern-border-crossing.

[7] See testimony of 15-year-old boy from Tal Kalakh who lost his right leg to a landmine. “Syria: Army Planting Banned Landmines: Witnesses Describe Troops Placing Mines Near Turkey, Lebanon Borders,” HRW, 13 March 2012, www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/13/syria-army-planting-banned-landmines.

[8] “Syrian farmer killed in mine explosion at Lebanon border,” The Daily Star, 17 December 2011.

[9] On March 9, The Washington Post published a photo of dirt-covered PMN-2 antipersonnel mines and TMN-46 antivehicle mines that it reported were planted by the Syrian army on the outskirts of the Syrian village of Heet.

[10] “Syria plants mines along Lebanon border,” The Daily Star, 13 June 2012. For information about an injury at an unidentified location on the Syria-Lebanese border, see “Lebanon-Syria border blast wounds 3,” Agence France-Presse, 29 July 2012, reliefweb.int/report/lebanon/lebanon-syria-border-blast-wounds-3-medic.

[11] Stephanie Nebehay, “Syria using mines and cluster bombs on civilians: campaigners,” Reuters, 29 November 2012, www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/29/us-syria-crisis-landmines-idUSBRE8AS0RF20121129.

[12] Al-Raqqa, the government implants landmines around the team,” YouTube, 19 April 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUgUOgzG__o&list=PLPC0Udeof3T6NPdHiWgDvc8zAzafWxSZC&index=2.

[13] Email from HRW employee, 5 June 2013.

[14] “IED bombs new Syrian rebel strategy,” BBC, 23 June 2012, www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18580175; CJ Chivers, “Syrian Rebels Hone Bomb Skills to Even the Odds,” The New York Times, 18 July 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/07/19/world/middleeast/syrian-rebels-hone-bomb-skills-military-analysis.html?pagewanted=all; Luke Harding and Ian Black, “Syria’s rebels add explosives expertise to guerrilla tactics,” The Guardian, 1 August 2012, www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/31/syria-rebels-explosives-expertise-tactics; and Christopher John Chivers, “Syria’s Dark Horses, With Lathes: Makeshift Arms Production in Aleppo Governorate, Part I,” The New York Times At War blog, 19 September 2012, atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/syrias-dark-horses-with-lathes-makeshift-arms-production-in-aleppo-governorate-part-i/.

[15] Matthieu Aikins, “Makers of war,” Wired, July 2013, www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/07/diy-arms-syria/.

[16] In an interview an unidentified Syrian rebel stated, “We defuse the mines planted by the Assad army and we will plant these mines for his soldiers.” Jane Ferguson, “Syria rebels to reuse regime landmines,” Al Jazeera, 1 August 2012, www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/08/20128145346410186.html.

[17] ICBL, “Syrian opposition forces urged not to use landmines,” Press release, 2 August 2012, www.icbl.org/index.php/icbl/Library/News-Articles/Syrian-rebel-landmine-urge.

[18] According to the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, Hezbollah and Syrian Army units conducting mine clearance in Qusair found dozens of mines provided by Hezbollah to Hamas in 2007–2008. Sources hinted that Hamas may have provided the mines to Syrian rebels. The report has not been confirmed by Hezbollah’s leadership. Roi Kais, “Report: Mines found in Qusair provided by Hezbollah to Hamas,” Ynet, 10 June 2013, www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4390325,00.html. See also: “SYRIA Fsa Rebel deploying Anti personnel mines Pretending to be Clearing Them Syria War 2013,” YouTube, 19 September 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUbCIHVS1aY.

[19] Sarah El Deeb, “Syrian rebels reeling from loss of Qusair,” Associated Press, 11 June 2013, bigstory.ap.org/article/syrian-rebels-reeling-loss-qusair.

[20] Albert Aji and Sarah El Deeb, “Syrian army captures Qusair, key border town, in blow to rebels,” Associated Press, 5 June 2013, www.mercurynews.com/ci_23393574/syrian-army-captures-qusair-key-border-town-blow.

[21] “The Islamic Rafiqa Martyrs Brigade affiliate for Trustees Brigade of al-Raqqa booby trapping a bridge,” YouTube, 19 April 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJbNl0Mxrvo&list=PLPC0Udeof3T6NPdHiWgDvc8zAzafWxSZC.

[22] “The process of blasting barriers, by the party and club from the heroes of the FSA,” YouTube, 24 May 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo45OzFAhWE&list=PLPC0Udeof3T6NPdHiWgDvc8zAzafWxSZC.

[23] “Horan commando brigade: planting mines and cutting the road between al-Talbeen and the al-Khadar brigade,” YouTube, 2 October 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7qF3ND_Nzs&list=PLPC0Udeof3T6NPdHiWgDvc8zAzafWxSZC.


Last Updated: 27 August 2013

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

The Syrian Arab Republic has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Syria last made a statement on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in September 2011, when it told States Parties: “We appreciate the international efforts to ban the use of these weapons, but cannot sign due to Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights.”[1]

Syria did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Since 2008, it has attended just one meeting of the convention. Syria participated as an observer in the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in 2011, but it did not attend the Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo, Norway in September 2012.

Syria is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Syria is not known to have produced cluster munitions.

Based on evidence of cluster munition use by government forces in 2012 and the first half of 2013, Syria imported at least three types manufactured by the Soviet Union (now Russia): RBK-250, RBK-250-275, and RBK-500 cluster bombs.[2] Syria also possesses Grad 122mm surface-fired rockets, including at least one version produced by Egypt with a submunition payload.[3] Jane’s Information Group has listed Syria as possessing the RBK-series air-dropped bombs listed above, as well as KMG-U dispensers[4] (see section on Use below).

It is not known when Syria imported its cluster munition stockpile or in what quantities.

Use

In the year from July 2012 until June 2013, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has identified 152 locations across Syria where at least 204 cluster munitions have been used, including in the governorates of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Deir ez-Zoir, Homs, Daraa, Raqqah, and Rif-Dimashq.[5] However, this data is incomplete as not all remnants have been recorded on video or by other means, so the actual number of cluster munitions used in Syria is likely much higher. Several locations have been repeatedly attacked with cluster munitions, most notably al-Za‘faraneh (near Rastan), as well as Abil (near Homs), Binnish (Idlib), Deir al-‘Assafeer (near Damascus), Douma (near Damascus), and Talbiseh (Homs).

In total, four types of cluster munitions and two types of individual submunitions have been recorded as used in Syria during the conflict, as of July 2013:[6]

1.      RBK-250 cluster bomb, each containing 30 PTAB-2.5M fragmentation submunitions;

2.      RBK-250-275 cluster bomb, each containing 150 AO-1SCh submunitions;

3.      RBK-500 cluster bomb, each containing 565 ShOAB-0.5 submunitions;

4.      122mm SAKR rockets, each containing either 72 or 98 dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions;[7]

5.      PTAB-2.5KO submunitions;[8] and

6.      AO-2.5RT submunitions.[9]

Initial reports of cluster munition use emerged in mid-2012 and then increased sharply in October 2012 as government forces intensified their air campaign on rebel-held areas. The cluster munition use continued in 2013.

In July 2012, Syrian activists posted videos online showing cluster munition remnants in Jabal Shahshabu, a mountainous area near Hama that had been under sustained bombardment by Syrian forces over the two weeks prior.[10] HRW identified the remnants shown in the videos as a RBK-250-275 cluster bomb and at least 20 unexploded AO-1SCh submunitions.[11] The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) expressed strong concern and urged the Syrian authorities to confirm or deny the use of cluster munitions.[12]

In October 2012, HRW released evidence showing a marked increase in the use of cluster bombs. It recorded the use of at least 46 cluster bombs in a two-week period at more than 35 cluster bomb strike sites in or near the towns in Aleppo, Deir al-Zor, Homs, and Idlib governorates as well as near Damascus.[13]

In January 2013, HRW documented the first use of ground-launched cluster munitions in Syria when it reported that Syrian forces had used multi-barrel rocket launchers to deliver 122mm cluster munition rockets containing DPICM submunitions. The 122mm cluster munition rockets bore the markings of the Egyptian state-owned Arab Organization for Industrialization and an Egyptian company called Sakr Factory for Development Industries.[14]

In March 2013, a fourth type of cluster munition was identified when video footage was released showing the remnants of a ShOAB-0.5 submunition, the only type of submunition known to be contained in the RBK-500 cluster bomb.[15] Remnants of RBK-500 ShOAB-0.5 bombs were subsequently documented.[16]

In May 2013, the Brown Moses blog identified PTAB-2.5KO submunition from video uploaded by activists.[17]

In June 2013, the Brown Moses blog identified AO-2.5RT submunitions date-stamped 1983 in photographs reportedly taken in Harbnafeh, Hama.[18]

Responses to Syria’s cluster munition use

Syrian authorities have denied the government’s use of cluster munitions. According to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), “the General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces stressed on [15 October 2012] that the misleading media outlets have recently published untrue news claiming the Syrian Arab Army has been using cluster bombs against terrorists.” According to SANA, “the General Command said the Syrian Army does not possess such bombs.”[19] In March 2013, Syrian diplomatic representatives continued to deny the evidence of Syrian cluster bomb use.[20]

As of July 2013, a total of 113 states had condemned Syria’s use of cluster munitions, most through a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution.[21] At least 25 states have issued national statements expressing concern.[22]

Austria’s Foreign Minister, Michael Spindelegger, was the first to publicly raise concern at cluster munition use in Syria when the first reports emerged in July 2012.[23] Following reports of civilian casualties from cluster munitions in mid-October, the ministers of foreign affairs of Belgium,[24] Denmark,[25] France,[26] Germany,[27] Mexico,[28] and Norway[29] made statements condemning the use. Later in October at the UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, seven more States Parties condemned Syria’s use: Ireland,[30] Japan,[31] Netherlands,[32] New Zealand,[33] Portugal,[34] Switzerland,[35] and the United Kingdom (UK).[36]

Non-signatory Qatar told the UN Security Council it was “appalled” at Syria’s use of cluster munitions “against its own people.”[37] The United States (US) Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Susan Rice, tweeted that the cluster munition use was an example of “atrocities” by the Syrian regime.[38]

During the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2013, 17 states publicly condemned Syria’s continued use of cluster munitions, six for the first time: States Parties Australia,[39] Croatia,[40] Ecuador,[41] Ghana,[42] and Lao PDR,[43] and non-signatory Cambodia.[44] Later in April, Luxembourg expressed deep alarm at Syria’s use of cluster munitions during a UN Security Council debate.[45]

At a regional seminar on cluster munitions in Lomé, Togo in May 2013, Guinea-Bissau[46] and South Africa[47] explicitly condemned Syria’s cluster bomb use and joined 34 other African states participating in the meeting to endorse the Lomé Strategy on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which expresses “grave concern over the recent and on-going use of cluster munitions” and calls for the immediate end to the use of these weapons.[48]

On 15 May 2013, a total of 107 states voted in favor of UNGA Resolution 67/262 on “the Situation in the Syrian Arab Republic” that included a strong condemnation of “the use by the Syrian authorities of...cluster munitions.”[49] The affirmative votes included 88 nations that had not previously condemned Syria’s cluster munition use, of which 37 were non-signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[50]

On 4 April 2013, the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, urged Syria to immediately stop using cluster munitions.[51]

Throughout this period, the President of the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Norwegian Ambassador Steffen Kongstad, issued multiple statements condemning the cluster munition use; he stated in March 2013 that States Parties and others must “continue to communicate clearly to those responsible in Syria that attacks on civilians in general and the use of cluster munitions in particular must stop.”[52]

Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, in October 2012 denied that “Russian-made” cluster bombs were being used in Syria, stating there was “no confirmation” of use and noting it was “difficult” to establish where the cluster munitions came from. New York Times correspondent C.J. Chivers noted, “[t]he only charitable way to characterize that denial is to offer that perhaps Mr. Lavrov was engaging in misdirection by word play, as these weapons, by their date stamps, appeared to have been manufactured during the late Soviet period, and not during the period of the current, post-union Russian state.”[53]

Egypt did not comment on the Syrian government’s use of Egyptian-made cluster munitions.[54]

 



[1] Statement of Syria, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 15 September 2011, www.clusterconvention.org/files/2011/09/statement_syria.pdf.

[2] A review by Human Rights Watch (HRW) of the markings on the RBK-series air-dropped bombs and the submunitions contained inside them, as well as a comparison with the Soviet manuals for the weapons, show that they were manufactured at Soviet state munitions factories in the 1970s and early 1980s.

[3] It is not known if Syria was the source for Chinese Type-81 122mm cluster munition rockets fired by Hezbollah into northern Israel from southern Lebanon in July–August 2006.

[4] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 846.

[5] HRW press release, “Syria: Mounting Casualties from Cluster Munitions,” New York, 16 March 2013, www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/16/syria-mounting-casualties-cluster-munitions.

[6] In addition, HRW has documented civilian casualties from Syrian government use of ZAB-series incendiary aircraft bombs (Zazhigatelnaya Aviatsionnaya Bomba) made by the Soviet Union, including the RBK-250 ZAB-2.5 bomb, which contains 48 incendiary ZAB 2.5 submunitions. These are not listed by the Monitor as they do not appear to be covered by the Convention on Cluster Munitions because the bombs contain incendiary and not explosive submunitions. For more information, see HRW press release, “Syria: Incendiary Weapons Used in Populated Areas,” New York, 12 December 2012, www.hrw.org/news/2012/12/12/syria-incendiary-weapons-used-populated-areas.

[7] It is not known if the 122mm rockets were the SAKR-18 or SAKR-36 type, containing 72 and 98 submunitions respectively.

[8] The PTAB-2.5KO submunitions are loaded into BFK blocks (cartridges), which are loaded into KMGU/KMGU-2 containers that are mounted on aircraft (jets and helicopters).

[9] These types of cluster submunitions can be both dropped inside RBK series cluster bombs, as with the PTAB-2.5M or AO-1SCh types, or inside a KMG-U/KMG-U-2 container.

[10] Brown Moses Blog, “Evidence of cluster bombs being deployed in Syria,” 10 July 2012, www.brown-moses.blogspot.com/2012/07/evidence-of-cluster-bombs-being.html.

[11] HRW press release, “Syria: Evidence of Cluster Munitions Use by Syrian Forces,” New York, 12 July 2012, www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/12/syria-evidence-cluster-munitions-use-syrian-forces. The 250-kilogram class RBK-series cluster bombs can be delivered by jet aircraft as well as rotary wing aircraft, such as Mi-24 and Mi-8 series helicopters.

[12] Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) press release, “CMC concerned over reports of cluster munition use in Syria,” 12 July 2012.

[13] The evidence included interviews with victims, other residents, and activists who filmed the cluster munitions; analysis of 64 videos; photographic evidence; and satellite imagery. See HRW press release, “Syria: New Evidence Military Dropped Cluster Bombs,” New York, 14 October 2012, www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/14/syria-new-evidence-military-dropped-cluster-bombs; and HRW press release, “Syria: Despite Denials, More Cluster Bomb Attacks,” New York, 23 October 2012, www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/23/syria-despite-denials-more-cluster-bomb-attacks.

[14] HRW press release, “Syria: Army Using New Type of Cluster Munition,” New York, 14 January 2013, www.hrw.org/news/2013/01/14/syria-army-using-new-type-cluster-munition.

[15] HRW press release, “Syria: Mounting Casualties from Cluster Munitions,” New York, 16 March 2013, www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/16/syria-mounting-casualties-cluster-munitions.

[16] “RBK-500 ShOAB-0.5 Cluster Bomb Casing,” uploaded by Brown Moses, 23 April 2013, youtu.be/DlFmS66t0DA.

[17] Brown Moses Blog, “Another New Cluster Munition Recorded in Syria,” 26 May 2013, www.brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/another-new-cluster-munition-recorded.html.

[18] Brown Moses Blog, “The Seventh Cluster Submunition Of The Syrian Conflict Arrives,” 6 June 2013, www.brown-moses.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-seventh-cluster-submunition-of.html.

[19] “Syria denies using cluster bombs,” CNN, 16 October 2012, www.edition.cnn.com/2012/10/15/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html.

[20] Letter from Firas al Rashidi, Charge d’affair ad interim, Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic to Japan, to the Japanese Campaign to Ban Landmines, 7 March 2013.

[21] “The situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/67/L.63, 15 May 2013, www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2013/ga11372.doc.htm.

[22] In addition to the statements provided, please see CMC @banclusterbombs Storify, “Syria’s cluster bomb use,” www.storify.com/banclusterbombs/syria-s-cluster-bomb-use. Last updated 19 May 2013.

[23] Statement of Austria, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 13 September 2011; and Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs press release, “Spindelegger: ‘Fordere dringende Aufklärung über die Verwendung von Streumunition in Syrien’” (“Spindelegger: ‘Requesting urgent clarification on the use of cluster munitions in Syria’”), 13 July 2012, www.bmeia.gv.at/aussenministerium/pressenews/presseaussendungen/2012/spindelegger-fordere-dringende-aufklaerung-ueber-die-verwendung-von-streumunition-in-syrien.html.

[24] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development Cooperation, “Minister Reynders on the use of cluster munitions in Syria,” 17 October 2012, www.diplomatie.belgium.be/en/Newsroom/news/press_releases/foreign_affairs/2012/10/ni_171012_clustermunitie_syrie.jsp?referer=tcm:312-202152-64.

[25] Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release, “Denmark condemns the use of cluster munitions in Syria,” 18 October 2012, www.um.dk/en/news/newsdisplaypage/?newsID=94F76D80-7B8A-40EE-9374-544D64308700.

[26] LCP Assemblée Nationale, “Syrie: Fabius dénonce le recours aux bombes à sous-munitions” (“Syria: Fabius denounces the use of cluster munitions”) , 17 October 2012, www.lcp.fr/actualites/politique/141237-syrie-fabius-denonce-le-recours-aux-bombes-a-sous-munitions.

[27] “Westerwelle besorgt wegen Einsatzes von Streubomben in Syrien” (“Westerwelle concerned about use of cluster bombs in Syria”), Die Welt, 18 October 2012, www.welt.de/newsticker/news2/article110018722/Westerwelle-besorgt-wegen-Einsatzes-von-Streubomben-in-Syrien.html.

[28] Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement, “México condena el uso de municiones en racimo y hace un llamado a Siria para que se adhiera a la Convención de Oslo” (“Mexico condemns the use of cluster munitions and calls on Syria to adhere to the Oslo Convention”), 17 October 2012, www.saladeprensa.sre.gob.mx/index.php/es/comunicados/1986-292.

[29] Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release, “Norway Condemns use of Cluster Munitions in Syria,” 15 October 2012, www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/press/news/2012/syria_cluster.html?id=704783.

[30] Statement of Ireland, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 1 November 2012, www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com12/statements/1Nov_Ireland.pdf.

[31] Statement of Japan, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 24 October 2012, www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com12/statements/24Oct_Japan.pdf.

[32] Statement of the Netherlands, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 24 October 2012.

[33] Statement of New Zealand, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, 1 November 2012, www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com12/statements/1Nov_NZ.pdf.

[34] Statement of Portugal, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 1 November 2012.

[35] Statement of Switzerland, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 24 October 2012. Notes by HRW.

[36] Statement of the UK, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 23 October 2012.

[37] Email from Anna Fritzsche, Campaign and Research Assistant, Crisis Action, 17 October 2012. The email contained verbatim notes taken during the debate.

[38] Tweet by @AmbassadorRice, 24 October 2012, www.twitter.com/AmbassadorRice/status/261192284362653696.

[39] Statement of Australia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings 17 April 2013, www.clusterconvention.org/files/2013/04/Australia3.pdf.

[40] Statement of Croatia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, 17 April 2013. Notes by the CMC.

[41] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2013, www.clusterconvention.org/files/2013/04/Ecuador.pdf.

[42] Statement of Ghana, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013, www.clusterconvention.org/files/2013/04/ccm-intersec-statement-universalization-.pdf.

[43] Statement of Lao PDR, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 30 May 2013. Notes by the CMC.

[44] Statement of Cambodia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 17 April 2013.

[45] Statement by Sylvie Lucas, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the UN in New York, UN Security Council, New York, 24 April 2013. Recording available at www.unmultimedia.org/radio/library/2013/04/84436.html.

[46] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 23 May 2013.

[47] Statement of South Africa, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 23 May 2013, www.clusterconvention.org/files/2013/05/VIII_South-Africa.pdf.

[48]Lomé Strategy on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 23 May 2013, www.clusterconvention.org/files/2013/04/Lome-Strategy-for-the-Universalization-of-the-CCM-Final-Draft_En.pdf.

[49] “The situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/67/L.63, 15 May 2013, www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2013/ga11372.doc.htm.

[50] States voting in favor of UNGA Resolution A/67/L.63 included 51 States Parties and signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Nauru, Palau, Panama, Peru, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, and Tunisia,) and 37 non-signatories (Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Gabon, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mongolia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, and Yemen). In addition, 19 states that had previously condemned the cluster munition use also voted in favor of the resolution: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, and the UK, as well as non-signatories Qatar and the US.

[51] European Parliament press release, “Schulz on the International Day for Mine Awareness,” 4 April 2013, www.europarl.europa.eu/the-president/en/press/press_release_speeches/press_release/2013/2013-april/press_release-2013-april-1.html.

[52] “Continued use of cluster munitions in Syria,” 22 March 2013, www.clusterconvention.org/2013/03/22/continued-use-of-cluster-munitions-in-syria/.

[53] The Gun blog, “Data Sharing: The ATK-EB Fuze,” 28 December 2012, www.cjchivers.com/post/39051905571/data-sharing-the-atk-eb-fuze-commonly.

[54] In January 2013, Morsi officials deferred media questions, stating, “[a]ny comment on this subject should come from a military official in the armed forces.” “Morsi mum on reports that Egyptian cluster bombs used by Syria,” World Tribune, 29 January 2013, www.worldtribune.com/2013/01/29/morsi-mum-on-reports-that-egyptian-cluster-bombs-used-by-syria/. According to local media, retired Maj. Gen. Dr. Mahmoud Khalaf, an advisor at Nasser Higher Military Academy, denied that Egypt had manufactured “this kind of unlawful weapon” and stressed Egypt’s commitment to “international conventions.” See “Egypt denies making cluster bombs for Syria’s Assad,” Al Bawaba, 15 January 2013, www.albawaba.com/news/syria-bombs-egypt-463900.


Last Updated: 28 November 2013

Mine Action

Contamination and Impact

The Syrian Arab Republic is contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), including cluster munition remnants, a legacy of Arab-Israeli wars since 1948 and the ongoing armed conflict. The fighting has involved extensive use of indiscriminate, area-wide weapons, which cause both immediate and long-term damage as they result in high levels of contamination of ERW.[1] The Syrian conflict has been marked by a severe lack of access to affected populations including mine action activities.

Mines

A 10-year-old refugee in Lebanon told UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow that during a six hour walk in the dark to Lebanon he kept his eyes on the ground to avoid landmines. “They told me: don’t step on the mines—it has a red button on it, and I saw a couple of them.”[2]

Since 2011 there have been reports of mine use on the internet, social media, and from independent research by Human Rights Watch (HRW). In 2011 and 2012, Syrian government forces used antipersonnel landmines, while non-state armed groups used improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and claimed they would re-use mines recovered from Syrian positions. On 1 November 2011, a Syrian official told media, “Syria has undertaken many measures to control the borders, including planting mines.”[3] The ICBL expressed concern at Syria’s “disregard” of the safety of civilians seeking to cross the border to flee the violence in Syria.[4] The Syrian government has stated that it views antipersonnel mines as necessary weapons for national defense.[5]

During 2012 and 2013, there were reports of Syrian rebels manufacturing and using IEDs, primarily roadside bombs as well as Molotov cocktails and remotely-detonated devices.[6] More information has emerged about rebel manufacture and use of victim-activated IEDs, which are prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty’s definition of an antipersonnel mine. In July 2013, Wired published a profile on a rebel arms manufacturer in Aleppo, including one who showed a reporter victim-operated IEDs that he was working on. The metallic devices looked like “old-fashioned fire-alarm bells.”[7]

In August 2012, a Syrian rebel told the media that they intended to re-use government antipersonnel mines that have been removed from the ground.[8] The ICBL called on the Free Syrian Army and all forces involved in the conflict in Syria to forbid their combatants from using landmines.[9]

In March 2012, HRW documented new mine use on the Turkish border near Hasanieih (PMN-2), Derwand, Jiftlek, Kherbet al-Joz toward Alzouf and al-Sofan, Armana, Bkafla, Hatya, Darkosh, Salqin, and Azmeirin.[10] New landmine use has also been reported on the Lebanese border in al-Buni,[11] Tel Kalakh,[12] Kneissi,[13] and Heet (PMN-2 and TMN-46 mines).[14] Civilian casualties have been recorded from this mine use.

Other explosive remnants of war

Heavy fighting has been reported in all 14 governates.[15] In July 2013, the UN Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS) recorded 3,414 incidents of armed clashes and use of heavy weapons such as rockets, cluster munitions, and IEDs.[16] Internally Displaced People and refugees attempting to resettle back in their homes are at risk of being killed or injured by ERW obscured by rubble or left over from previous fighting.[17]

Cluster munition remnants

Independent reports indicate that Syria is contaminated with cluster munition remnants. Amnesty International has reported that cluster bombs have killed or wounded tens of thousands of civilians in villages and towns across the country.[18]

While the full extent of contamination is unknown and will remain unknown indefinitely, several locations in Syria have been identified as areas where cluster munitions have been used. As of April 2013, they include Abu Kamal on the Syrian side of the Syria/Iraq border.[19] Other locations include Deir Jamal near Aleppo and Talbiseh near Homs. According to HRW, al-Za`faraneh, near Rastan, as well as Abil, near Homs, Binnish (Idlib), Deir al-Assafeer, and Douma, near Damascus, and the governorates of Aleppo, Idlib, Deir al-Zor, and Latakia have been repeatedly attacked with cluster munitions.[20]

The Golan Heights is also contaminated with unexploded ordnance, including unexploded submunitions. The precise extent of the problem is not known.

Mine Action Program

There is no formal mine action program in Syria, no national mine action authority, and no mine action center.

In March 2012, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) established an office in Damascus, initially as part of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS). An UNMAS team in Amman, Jordan provided support.[21]

In 2012, Sweden funded the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) to provide three technical experts to support emergency operations planning and training with UNMAS.[22]

Clearance

No formal clearance is being conducted in Syria. A video posted online by HRW in March 2013 reported that five people, local denizens, working as a team had removed 300 antipersonnel mines near the border with Lebanon.[23]

Risk education

After UNSMIS was suspended in June 2012 because of an increase in the fighting,[24] UNMAS stayed in Damascus as a member of the Syrian Humanitarian Action Response Plan (SHARP) where a three-person team provided assessments, technical advice on ERW issues, and risk education to UN staff and the Syrian Red Crescent.[25] UNMAS also coordinates regional risk education targeted at humanitarian aid workers, internally displaced persons, and children in Syrian refugee camps in Jordan and Iraq where UNHCR has registered over two million refugees. It planned to target 500,000 people in 2013.[26] Handicap International (HI), Spirit of Soccer, and Mines Advisory Group (MAG) provide risk education to refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq.[27] In October 2013, UNICEF, UNMAS, and MAG began showing a risk education video in refugee camps in Iraq for Syrian refugees. It is planned to broadcast the one-minute video on media outlets in the region.[28]

However, the growing intensity of the fighting and restricted movement forced UNMAS to cancel plans in June 2013 for a survey to establish a database of hazardous areas.[29]

UNMAS also manages a database of Syria conflict data in partnership with UNDSS and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to inform the current humanitarian response and enable pre-planning and preparedness for ERW survey and clearance at the appropriate time.[30]

 



[1] Global Protection Cluster, “Syria Situation Update,” 11 February 2013; and UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), “Syria,” August 2013.

[3]Assad troops plant land mines on Syria-Lebanon border,” The Associated Press, 1 November 2011.

[4] ICBL press release, “ICBL publicly condemns reports of Syrian forces laying mines,” Geneva, 2 November 2011.

[5] Telephone interview with Milad Atieh, Director, Department of International Organizations and Conventions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 29 January 2008; and interview with Mohd Haj Khaleel, Department of International Organizations and Conventions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Damascus, 25 February 2007. See also, for example, statement of Syria, Seminar on Military and Humanitarian Issues Surrounding the Mine Ban Treaty, Amman, 19–21 April 2004.

[6]IED bombs new Syrian rebel strategy,” BBC, 23 June 2012; CJ Chivers, “Syrian Rebels Hone Bomb Skills to Even the Odds,” The New York Times, 18 July 2012; Luke Harding and Ian Black, “Syria’s rebels add explosives expertise to guerrilla tactics,” The Guardian, 1 August 2012; CJ Chivers, “Syria’s Dark Horses, With Lathes: Makeshift Arms Production in Aleppo Governorate, Part I,” The New York Times At War blog, 19 September 2012.

[7] Matthieu Aikins, “Makers of war,” Wired, July 2013.

[8] In an interview, an unidentified Syrian rebel stated, “We defuse the mines planted by the Assad army and we will plant these mines for his soldiers.” Jane Ferguson, “Syria rebels to reuse regime landmines,” Al Jazeera, 1 August 2012.

[9] ICBL press release, “Syrian opposition forces urged not to use landmines,” Geneva, 2 August 2012.

[12] See testimony of 15-year-old boy from Tal Kalakh who lost his right leg to a landmine, “Syria: Army Planting Banned Landmines: Witnesses Describe Troops Placing Mines Near Turkey, Lebanon Borders,” HRW, 13 March 2012.

[14] On 9 March 2012, The Washington Post published a photo of dirt-covered PMN-2 antipersonnel mines and TMN-46 antivehicle mines that it reported were planted by the Syrian Army on the outskirts of the Syrian village of Heet.

[15] Email from Gustavo Laurie, Coordinator, Global Protection Cluster, UNMAS, 13 March 2013.

[16] UNMAS, “Syria,” August 2013. The UNDSS provides resources such as security clearance requests, travel notification processing, and travel advisories for staff members of UN departments, agencies, funds, and programs. Access to the UNDSS website is restricted to UN personnel only.

[17] Global Protection Cluster, “Syria Situation Update,” 11 February 2013.

[19] Brown Moses blog, 4 June 2013.

[20] HRW, “Syria: Mounting Casualties from Cluster Munitions,” 16 March 2013; and HRW, “Death from the Skies,” 10 April 2013.

[21] Email from Gustavo Laurie, UNMAS, 13 March 2013.

[22]MSB operations as a result of the conflict in Syria,” MSB International Operations Magazine, June 2013, p. 11.

[23] HRW, “Syria: Army Planting Banned Landmines,” 14 March 2012.

[25] Letter from UNMAS to H.E. Gary Quinlan, Permanent Representative of Australia to the UN, New York, 2 January 2013.

[28] MAG, “Risk Education video for Syrian refugees,” 2 October 2013.

[29] Revised Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan (SHARP) January - December 2013, 3 June 2013; and “WITHDRAWN - Explosive Remnants Survey and Coordination,” UNMAS, 6 June 2013, p. 122.

[30] UNMAS, “Syria,” August 2013.


Last Updated: 27 November 2013

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Casualties overview

All known casualties by end 2012

716 mine/ERW casualties (232 killed; 472 injured, 12 unknown)

Casualties in 2012

37 (2011: 20)

2012 casualties by outcome

6 killed; 29 injured; 2 unknown (2011: 6 killed; 4 injured; 10 unknown)

2012 casualties by item type

28 antipersonnel mine; 6 antivehicle mine; 2 undefined mine types; 1 cluster submunition

In 2012, 37 new landmine/unexploded submunition casualties were identified in Syria through media monitoring; at least four casualties were children and two were women. All casualties were civilian, where the status was known.[1] This represented an increase in annual casualties from 20 new civilian mine casualties identified in Syria in 2011. However, there was a lack of information overall regarding casualties of mines, cluster munitions, and explosive remnants of war (ERW), due to ongoing armed conflict. There were no reported efforts to distinguish these casualties from the many people killed and injured by other weapons. It was likely that the threat posed by ERW was high.[2]

The numbers of casualties identified in 2012, and since internal conflict began in 2011, represent a significant increase from previous years. In 2010, no casualties were identified in Syria, and in 2009 a single antivehicle casualty was reported.[3]

Of the 36 landmine casualties recorded in 2012, 29 casualties were reported to have occurred along or near the border with Turkey. Another six casualties occurred on or near the border with Lebanon: between the Syrian village of Msherifeh and the Lebanese village of al-Moqaibla; near the crossing to the Lebanese village of Al Naoura; and at the Tal Kalakh border with Lebanon. The other casualty occurred in Quneitra governorate near the border with Israel. The head of the General Society of Israeli Landmine Survivors in Quneitra governorate was reported as saying that two other people were injured in that region in the same year, but no other details were available.[4]

In 2012, at least eight more Syrians were reported to have become mine casualties in the Turkish border minefield while trying to cross into Turkey.[5]

The total number of mine/ERW casualties recorded in Syria between 1967 and the end of 2012 is at least 716 mine/ERW casualties (232 killed; 472 injured; 12 unknown).[6] In the absence of a national casualty data collection mechanism, it is probable that there were also unrecorded casualties before the beginning of internal armed conflict in 2011.

Cluster munition casualties

In 2012, the Monitor identified 165 casualties from cluster munitions strikes through media monitoring; at least 35 were children, or some 40% in cases where the age was known.[7] Media monitoring for January to September 2013 identified another 55 casualties due to cluster munitions strikes. These numbers are not thought to be reliable due to a lack of active data collection able to differentiate the exact weapon used. The number of people killed and injured during strikes is likely much higher.

At least six casualties from unexploded submunitions have been recorded since the 1970s, including one in 2012.[8]

Victim Assistance

There is no current estimate of the number of mine/ERW survivors in Syria. Previous estimates of the total number of survivors range from 210 to 330.[9] No information was available on efforts made in 2012 to collect data on mine/ERW survivors or to assess their needs.

The number of persons with disabilities due to the conflict was not fully documented. In addition to physical effects, many groups reported elevated levels of psychological trauma.[10] Handicap International (HI) noted “a patent lack of immediate rehabilitation and psychosocial relief” despite the rising number of conflict-injured people within Syria and those fleeing to neighboring countries.[11]

Insecurity and conflict in Syria affected access to essential medical interventions and medical equipment. There were severe shortages of medicine and medical supplies, as well as the inability of many health workers to access their workplaces. These difficulties were exacerbated by overall disruptions to the health system. A lack of fuel and cuts in electricity forced many hospitals to operate at reduced capacity. A continuously growing number of patients also strained the limited health resources available.[12] Medical personnel and hospitals were deliberately targeted and access to medical services was denied. The attacks on hospitals and clinics further reduced the provision of basic assistance to injured persons.[13] According to reports by the Ministry of Health, 57% of public hospitals were affected, of which 20% were damaged, and 37% were out of service. Trauma injuries remained high-priority needs.[14]

The ICRC also expressed grave concern about the lack of protection for medical services in Syria. It reported that the security conditions prevented the organization of war surgery seminars and the deployment of a mobile surgical team. People were prevented by the security situation from seeking treatment at those government facilities that remained open; they relied mainly on National Society emergency health facilities supported by the ICRC. Emergency rooms were built in Damascus and Homs. Fully-equipped mobile health units were operated by National Red Crescent Society branches in the Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Tartous governorates. ICRC-supplied emergency medical care kits allowed for the treatment of several thousand weapon-wounded patients, mainly in Damascus, Rural Damascus, and Homs.[15]

In 2012, HI began providing assistance for refugees from the Syrian conflict in Jordan and Lebanon, including specifically assisting the needs of survivors. During the year, HI extended its activities to working inside Syria.[16] HI started physical rehabilitation activities, including prosthetics and psychosocial support for Syrian refugees in Turkey in December 2012.[17] In 2013, HI reported that it was the only organization providing post-surgery emergency rehabilitation care to conflict victims in the north of Syria. It was common for people provided with rehabilitation and prosthetic devices to have suffered multiple amputations, having lost both legs, or an arm and a leg.[18] HI interventions included the identification of persons with injuries and/or disabilities at the hospital, camp, and community levels; provision of rehabilitation, including training and counseling for those people identified and their caregivers; distribution of mobility devices and provision of prostheses; direct provision of individual psychosocial support sessions at rehabilitation centers and at the community level; and training of health providers and psychosocial support workers in North Syria and Turkey.[19]

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor is responsible for assisting persons with disabilities and worked through dedicated charities and organizations to provide assistance. The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities and seeks to integrate them into the public sector workforce.[20]

Syria ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 10 July 2009.

 



[1] The civilian status of two casualties was not known. Data is based on Monitor analysis of media reports found during media scanning for calendar year 2012.

[2] See: “UNMAS, Syria: situation analysis and needs,” updated August 2013.

[3] Email from Dr. Hosam Doughouz, Health Officer, Quneitra Health Directorate, 12 May 2010.

[6]Citizen Injured from Israel Left-over Mine Explosion in Quneitra,” SANA (Quneitra), 6 May 2011. In the article, Omar al-Heibi, head of the board of the General Association for Rehabilitation of Mine-caused Injuries, states that there have been a total of 660 mine casualties (220 killed; 440 injured) as of May 2011, including a man injured in 2011.

[7] The age was reported for 84 cluster munition strike casualties in 2012.

[8] Handicap International (HI), Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, May 2007), p. 132.

[9] “A Syrian Severely Wounded by Landmines left by Israeli Occupation Troops in Quneitra,” SANA (Quneitra), 17 June 2008, www.sana.sy; and email from Dr. Doughouz, Quneitra Health Directorate, 23 February 2009.

[10] United States (US) Department of State, “2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Syria,” Washington, DC, 17 April 2013.

[12] UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Syrian Arab Republic: Health Sector Update (September 2013).”

[14] UN, “Syrian Arab Republic Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan (SHARP) January - December 2013 (Revised),” Prepared in Coordination amongst the Syrian Government, UN System, and other humanitarian actors in Syria, 5 June 2013, p. 24.

[15] ICRC, “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, May 2013, p. 446; and ICRC, “Syria: Timely access to health-care services a matter of life or death,” 1 April 2013.

[20] US Department of State, “2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Syria,” Washington, DC, 17 April 2013.


Last Updated: 22 November 2013

Support for Mine Action

The Syrian Arab Republic is contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), including cluster munition remnants, a legacy of Arab-Israeli wars since 1948 and the ongoing armed conflict. The fighting has involved extensive use of indiscriminate weapons, which cause both immediate and long-term damage as they result in high levels of contamination of ERW.[1] The Syrian conflict has been marked by a severe lack of access to affected populations, including mine action activities.

In 2012, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) reported that it received US$1.4 million from the UN Supervision Mission in Syria for initial operations in Syria. Also in 2012, Sweden contributed SEK7.26 million ($1.07 million)[2] to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) to provide three technical experts to support emergency operations planning and training with UNMAS.[3]

In June 2013, UNMAS had reduced its budget requirements for 2013 from $5 million to $800,000, largely because of restricted access in Syria, but still remained unfunded for the year as of June 2013.[4] Sweden provided MSB with $425,401 from January–June 2013.[5]

 



[1] Global Protection Cluster, “Syria Situation Update,” 20 February 2013; and UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), “Syria,” August 2013.

[2] Sweden, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, 27 March 2013. Average exchange rate for 2012: SEK6.7721=US$1. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2013.

[3] UNMAS, “UNMAS 2012 Annual Report,” p. 9; and “MSB operations as a result of the conflict in Syria,” MSB International Operations Magazine, June 2013, p. 11.

[5] Financial Tracking Service, “Humanitarian Aid for Syria Crisis,” 25 July 2013.