FACTBOX-Landmines: savage weapon throughout the world
Source: Reuters
Nov 15 (Reuters) - According to a report issued by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Colombia last year registered the highest number of victims of anti-personnel mines in the world. Here are some facts on landmines around the world. * Antipersonnel mines have been used in many conflicts since World War Two, including in the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the first Gulf War and to a large extent in Afghanistan. * More governments are participating in clearing them, but the number of victims worldwide rose by 11 percent last year to more than 7,300 with many of the victims children, according to the campaign. * A total of 151 countries have agreed to ban antipersonnel mines under the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Forty-one states remain outside the treaty. Poland, Indonesia and Marshall Islands have signed but not yet ratified the treaty. * Non-state armed groups are now the major users of anti-personnel mines, including Colombia's Marxist rebels and groups in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar. * More than 160 million antipersonnel mines are stockpiled around the world with the vast majority held by five states: China, Russia, the United States, Ukraine, Pakistan and India. * Thirteen countries still produce or have not fully foresworn mine production, according to the campaign -- Myanmar, China, India, Nepal, North Korea, South Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, Vietnam, Iran, Cuba, the United States and Russia. The United States, which has not produced landmines since 1997, has been developing new landmine systems that may be incompatible with the Mine Ban Treaty, the campaign says. Sources: Reuters, International Campaign to Ban Landmines (http://www.icbl.org) (Compiled by Reuters Editorial Reference Unit in Bangalore)
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