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Kyrgyzstan
Mine Action
Contamination and Impact
The Kyrgyz Republic is contaminated by mines, although the precise locations and extent of the residual threat are not known. According to the Minister of Defense, contamination in the southern Batken province bordering Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the result of mine use by Uzbekistan’s military between 1999 and 2000, was cleared by Uzbek forces in 2005.[1] It was reported, however, that rainfall and landslides had caused some mines to shift.[2]
In 2003, Kyrgyz authorities estimated that Uzbek forces had also laid mines around the Uzbek enclaves of Sokh and Shakhimardan located within Kyrgyzstan. Press reports have suggested that Uzbek troops partially cleared territory around the Sokh enclave in 2004–05 and that they had completely cleared mines around the Shakhimardan enclave in 2004.[3]
Kyrgyzstan has admitted using antipersonnel mines in 1999 and 2000 to prevent infiltration across its borders, but has claimed that all the mines were subsequently removed and destroyed.[4]
Mine Action Program
Kyrgyzstan has no functioning mine action program.
[1] Fax from Abibilla Kudaiberdiev, Minister of Defense, Ministry of Defense, dated 4 April 2011.
[2] See, for example, Yuri Yegorov, “Uzbekistan agrees to remove minefields along its border with Kyrgyzstan,” Eurasia Daily Monitor, Vol. 1, Issue 41, 29 June 2004.
[3] Sultan Zhimagulov (Bishkek) and Olga Borisova (Tashkent), “Kyrgyzstan Tries to Defend Itself from Uzbek Mines,” Navigator (Kazakhstan), 14 March 2003; and “Borders are becoming clear,” Blog.
[4] Statement of Kyrgyzstan, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 8 May 2006; and Letter 011-14/809 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 April 2010.
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