Landmine deaths soar in 2016

A record number of children were reported killed or hurt by landmines and other explosives last year, with a handful of conflicts contributing to a "horrific" toll for the second year running, experts said yesterday.

The annual Landmine Monitor report recorded 8,605 casualties in 2016, the second highest figure since 1999 when it began gathering data.

The spike was fuelled by violence in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Yemen and Libya.

About three-quarters of known casualties were civilians, including more than 1,000 children who were injured and nearly 500 who were killed, the report said.

Co-editor of the report Loren Persi described the spike as "alarming", adding that the true number of victims would be significantly higher due to gaps in data from several countries, particularly Syria and Iraq.

The report said armed groups had also used mines in at least seven other countries in the last year: Afghanistan, India, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ukraine and Yemen.

Myanmar and Syria are the only countries where government forces continue to use mines, it said.

Experts told a teleconference briefing there was evidence earlier this year that Myanmar had laid mines along border areas where Rohingya refugees were crossing into Bangladesh, and that there had been reports of women and children killed.