Kosovo
Mine Action
Kosovo cannot accede to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Cluster Munitions due to its political status.
Recommendations for action
- Kosovo should disaggregate clearance of cluster munition remnants from mine clearance in its reporting.
Contamination
Kosovo is contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), primarily as a result of the conflict between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the late 1990s and the conflict between the FRY and NATO in 1999.[1]
The UN reported in 2002 that “the problems associated with landmines, cluster munitions and other items of unexploded ordnance in Kosovo have been virtually eliminated,”[2] but further investigation revealed considerably more contamination.[3]
Mine contamination
At the end of 2014, 77 confirmed mined areas remained covering 2.75km2.
A non-technical survey of Kosovo by the Kosovo Mine Action Centre (KMAC) and HALO Trust completed in 2013 revealed 130 confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) covering 10.36km2.[4] By the end of 2014, 128 CHAs remained covering 10.44km2.[5] KMAC explained the increase in the total size of CHAs by reporting that the end-2013 estimate for 130 CHAs did not include five tasks on which teams had started work and which increased the real end-2013 total.[6] HALO Trust did not have access to all of the north for the survey it completed in 2013, and KMAC looked forward to survey of remaining locations by Norwegian People’s Aid in 2015.[7]
Mines are found mainly on Kosovo’s borders with Albania and Macedonia but also in the area of Dulie Pass in south-central Kosovo.[8] The KMAC-HALO survey identified 79 confirmed mined areas covering a total area of 2.76km2, a larger number of tasks than the total of 48 CHAs and suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) that had been identified at the end of 2012.[9] By the end of 2014, KMAC reported the number of confirmed mined areas had fallen to 77 covering 2.75km2.[10]
Cluster munition contamination
Contamination from cluster munition remnants in Kosovo remained in 51 areas over 7.69km2 at the end of 2014.[11] Three areas containing cluster munition remnants were released during 2014.
NATO aircraft bombed 333 locations between 24 March and 10 June 1999 (Operation Allied Force), dropping 1,392 bombs that released 295,700 submunitions.[12] Forces of the FRY also used cluster munitions during the conflict.[13]
Other explosive remnants of war
There is also contamination in Kosovo from other explosive remnants of war. Most contamination consists of unexploded aircraft bombs (located mainly in the west of the province) and items of abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO) but explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams continue to encounter items of unexploded ordinance (UXO) dating back to World War II.[14] Kosovo Protection Force (KFOR) explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) teams regularly collect items of AXO in response to information provided by the public and demining organizations.[15]
Program Management
In January 2011, the EOD Coordination Management Section became KMAC under the Ministry of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF). KMAC is responsible for managing clearance of mines and ERW. It prepares an annual workplan in cooperation with demining NGOs and coordinates operations of both the NGOs and KFOR. It also coordinates survey, quality assurance, risk education, public information, and victim assistance.[16]
Three NGOs have conducted land release in Kosovo in the past: HALO Trust; the Bosnia-based, Mine Detection Dog Centre (MDDC); and Mines Awareness Trust (MAT). However, the MDDC and MAT were not funded to operate in 2014. NPA received accreditation to conduct survey, but has not yet started operations.[17]
An evaluation of Kosovo’s mine action program was conducted in 2014 on behalf of the ITF Enhancing Human Security.[18]
Land Release
Clearance accelerated in 2014 after the downturn in clearance as a result of funding constraints in the previous year. KSF and the HALO Trust cleared a total of 0.84km2 of area containing mines and/or cluster munition remnants in 2014, double the area cleared in 2013. Reporting by KMAC does not distinguish battle area clearance (BAC) from mine clearance, although reports by operators indicated most of the area cleared contained cluster munition remnants.
KSF operated three platoons with 75 deminers also trained for BAC and a fourth platoon with 25 deminers also trained for EOD who conduct both area clearance and spot EOD tasks. In 2014, it released one confirmed hazardous area and worked on three more that were suspended at the end of the demining season. KSF EOD also destroyed 449 UXO items in the course of 360 response tasks.[19]
HALO, working with 57 deminers, cleared 59,456m2 of mined area and 405,307m2 of area containing cluster munition remnants, nearly two-thirds more than the previous year, and accounting for two of the three cluster munition-contaminated areas released in 2014. HALO deminers average 22m2 a day on mined area and 100m2 a day on cluster munition sites reflecting the constraints on clearance posed by steep gradient, dense vegetation, and heavy metal contamination.[20]
Clearance of mined and cluster munition remnant-contaminated area in 2014[21]
|
Operator |
Area cleared (m2) |
Antipersonnel mines destroyed |
Antivehicle mines destroyed |
Submunitions destroyed |
UXO destroyed |
|
KSF |
375,324 |
25 |
1 |
232 |
311 |
|
HALO |
464,763 |
16 |
0 |
123 |
75 |
|
KFOR |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
12 |
|
Total |
840,087 |
41 |
1 |
361 |
398 |
At current rates of clearance, Kosovo will still be mine-affected in 2025.
Five-year summary of mine and battle area clearance
|
Year |
Area cleared (km2) |
|
2014 |
0.84 |
|
2013 |
0.40 |
|
2012 |
0.69 |
|
2011 |
0.98 |
|
2010 |
0.48 |
|
Total |
3.39 |
[1] See UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), “UNMIK OKPCC EOD Management Section Annual Report 2005,” Pristina, 18 January 2006, p. 2; and ICRC “Explosive Remnants of War, Cluster Bombs and Landmines in Kosovo,” Geneva, revised June 2001, pp. 6 and 15.
[2] Mine Action Coordination Cell, “UNMIK Mine Action Programme Annual Report – 2001,” Pristina, undated but 2002, p. 1.
[3] HALO Trust, “Failing the Kosovars: The Hidden Impact and Threat from ERW,” 15 December 2006, p. 1.
[4] Email from Ahmet Sallova, Head, KMAC, Ministry of the Kosovo Security Force, 20 February 2014.
[5] Ibid., 18 March 2015.
[6] Ibid., 27 May 2015.
[7] Ibid., 18 March 2015.
[8] Ibid., 30 July 2013.
[9] Ibid., 20 February 2014.
[10] Ibid., 18 March 2015.
[11] Ibid. This is an increase on the 7.63km2 reported at the end of 2013 as that figure did not include five tasks that had been started but not yet finished.
[12] “Kosovo Humanitarian Clearance,” Brochure produced by HALO, undated but 2013.
[13] Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions, Government Policy and Practice (Mines Action Canada, Ottawa, 2009), p. 238.
[14] UNMIK, “OKPCC EOD Management Section Annual Report 2008,” Pristina, 12 January 2009, p. 4.
[15] Email from Ahmet Sallova, KMAC, 1 August 2012.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid., 18 March 2015.
[18] ITF Enhancing Human Security, “An Evaluation of Kosovo’s Mine Action Programme,” 28 July 2014.
[19] Email from Ahmet Sallova, KMAC, 18 March 2015.
[20] Emails from Andrew Moore, HALO Trust, 21 May 2015, and 8 July 2015.
[21] Email from Ahmet Sallova, KMAC, 18 March 2015.