Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 11 September 2002, becoming a State Party on 1 March 2003.

Afghanistan has not adopted national implementation legislation.[1] A draft regulation prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of mines and cluster munitions was prepared in 2013 and was still in process as of April 2014.[2]

Afghanistan has submitted 11 Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reports; most recently in April 2014, a report covering calendar year 2013.[3]

Over the past decade, Afghanistan has participated in every Meeting of States Parties and all intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty, including the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties in December 2013 in Geneva. It attended the Mine Ban Treaty’s First Review Conference in Nairobi in 2004 and its Second Review Conference in Cartagena in 2009, but its delegation to the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014 was denied a transit visa enroute. Afghanistan’s statements intended for the Maputo conference were uploaded to the treaty’s website.

Use

There have been no reports of antipersonnel mine use by Coalition or Afghan national forces. However, use of victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by armed groups continued in 2013 and in the first half of 2014, resulting in further casualties.

Non-state armed groups

The Taliban has made extensive use of victim-activated IEDs in Afghanistan as have other armed groups that oppose the Kabul government and the NATO/International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces, such as the Haqqani Network, and Hezb-e-Islami.

In the first half of 2014, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded an increase in incidents caused by victim-activated IEDs compared to the same time period in 2013. It stated that the majority of IEDs used in Afghanistan are victim-activated, most via pressure plates.[4]

UNAMA shares the view of Mine Ban Treaty States Parties that victim-activated IEDs function as antipersonnel mines and are prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty, while command-detonated IEDs are not banned.[5]

In 2014, UNAMA reported that the majority of pressure plate IEDs are still set to detonate when walked on or driven over and frequently contain up to 20–25kg of explosives, more than twice that of a standard antivehicle mine.[6] As a result of this design and configuration, the explosive weapons “effectively act as a massive antipersonnel landmine with the capability of destroying a tank;” “civilians who step on or drive over these IEDs…have no defense against them and very little chance of survival…A significant number of IEDs are encountered with explosive weight of approximately 2–4kg specifically designed to maim or kill individuals on foot.”[7] Reportedly some pressure plate initiated IEDs use carbon rods instead of metal contacts to make the explosive device difficult to detect. In other cases insurgents use an arming device that allows them to switch on the pressure plate when targets are in the area.[8]

In October 2012 on the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan website, the Taliban denied the use of victim-activated explosive devices and said it uses command-detonated explosive devices.[9] The Taliban have continued to claim responsibility for an extensive number of attacks against military personnel and vehicles using command-detonated IEDs.[10] The Taliban also claimed responsibility on 7 November 2013 for the deaths of three security officials who stepped on a landmine laid by the Taliban in Khost Province.[11]

In July 2013 a media survey by the Monitor identified 404 antipersonnel mines reportedly recovered by Afghan or combined forces between June 2012 and July 2013. According to seizures reported by the media in Pakistan, antipersonnel mines from Afghanistan continue to be transferred into the country[12] (see Pakistan’s Monitor profile).

Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and discoveries

Afghanistan is not known to have ever produced or exported antipersonnel mines. Throughout many years of armed conflict, large numbers of mines from numerous sources were sent to various fighting forces in Afghanistan. In recent years, there were no confirmed reports of outside supply of antipersonnel mines to non-state armed groups.

Afghanistan reported that it completed its stockpile destruction obligation in October 2007, eight months after its treaty-mandated deadline of 1 March 2007.[13] It reported the destruction of 525,504 stockpiled antipersonnel mines between 2003 and 2007.[14] It is unclear how many stockpiled mines Afghanistan had destroyed at the time it declared completion of the program. It reported that it had destroyed 486,226 stockpiled antipersonnel mines as of April 2007, and later reported that it destroyed 81,595 antipersonnel mines in calendar year 2007.[15]

Afghan security forces regularly recover weapons, sometimes landmines, in their operations.[16] In 2013, it reported that a total of 8,013 antipersonnel mines were discovered and destroyed during calendar year 2013 from stocks recovered during military operations, surrendered during disarmament programs, and discovered by civilians.[17] Since Afghanistan’s stockpile destruction deadline, it has discovered and destroyed 81,674 antipersonnel mines in previously unknown stockpiles.[18]

Mines retained for training and development

Afghanistan does not retain any live mines for training in mine detection, mine clearance, or mine destruction techniques. It has reported that “mine bodies used in these programmes have had their fuzes removed and destroyed and are no longer capable of being used.”[19] In June 2011, the chief of operations of the Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan (MACCA) confirmed to the Monitor that Afghanistan does not retain any live mines for training or other purposes.[20] All mines retained by Afghanistan are fuzeless and are used to train mine detection dogs.[21]