GENEVA, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention's 17th meeting of the States Parties, which ended here Friday, recorded success in stockpile destruction and mine clearance in the Middle East and West Africa, but expressed concerns about the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
"While progress was welcome, the conference agreed that new contamination by anti-personnel mines of an improvised nature should be reported and treated the same as factory-made mines under the Convention," said a statement of the meeting released here,
The meeting gathered more than 600 delegates in Geneva from Nov. 26 to 30 to tackle the challenges that remain in implementing the pact.
Afghanistan chaired the convention in 2018, calling on the parties to actively recognize the increasing threat of anti-personnel mines of an improvised nature, mostly in use by armed non-state actors, which has driven up the global figures of casualties.
"Countering the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which killed over 2,200 Afghans in 2017 alone is an imperative being pursued by Afghanistan, nationally and internationally," said the Afghan presidency of the treaty.
Afghanistan reported 2,288 mine casualties in 2017 including 159 women, 866 men, and 1,263 children. Of these, 793 persons were killed; the rest injured.
As two of the most mine-affected countries in the world, Afghanistan and Iraq have both seen an increase in landmine contamination due to non-state actors' use of anti-personnel mines of an improvised nature, the convention heard.
The growing use of improvised anti-personnel mines is also a concern of the incoming Norwegian presidency.
"Let me be clear: anti-personnel mines are prohibited and fall under the obligations of this Convention, independent of whether they are manufactured or improvised," said Hans Brattskar, Ambassador of Norway in Geneva.
