landmines

An international sign warning about mines hangs beside a minefield at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in 2002.

U.S. military reinstitutes its landmine ban — except for Korea

11:45am June 21, 2022

by The Associated Press

The White House announced Tuesday that it would restrict use of the weapons, aligning the country's policy more closely — though not fully — with an international treaty banning the deadly explosives.

Former professional handball player Catarina Esperanca Sanhala clears undergrowth before searching for landmines in a minefield in Benguela province, Angola. "It's a very different life," says Sanhala. "But I wanted a challenge."

Health & Safety

PHOTOS: Angola's all-female demining teams blow up landmines — and gender stereotypes

1:25pm June 12, 2022

by Tommy Trenchard

Angola's civil war left 1,100 active minefields. The attitude had been that clearing mines is man's work until a nonprofit stepped in. Now nearly 400 women deminers tread carefully — and courageously.

The coffins of the victims in Tuesday's attack are placed on the ground at a hospital in northern Baghlan province, Afghanistan, on Wednesday. Workers of the HALO Trust demining organization were attacked on Tuesday night by armed gunmen.

World News

An Overnight Attack On Mine Clearance Workers In Afghanistan Leaves 10 Dead

5:38pm June 09, 2021

The attack targeted workers clearing landmines with the HALO Trust charity. The government blamed the Taliban, who denied involvement. Afghanistan is one of the world's most heavily mined countries.

Smoke rises after South Korean soldiers set a blast to remove land mines in the Demilitarized Zone in 2002. The Korean Peninsula had been the last region the U.S. military was allowed to use the weapon — until Friday, when the Trump administration lifte

Trump Administration Loosens Obama-Era Restrictions On Land Mine Use

3:46pm January 31, 2020

by Colin Dwyer

The White House says it's lifting a ban on the weapon's use outside the Korean Peninsula. The administration calls it an "important tool," though statistics show it is most dangerous to civilians.