Raheela Bibi was outside playing with her siblings when a landmine exploded. It was August 2020 and she was 12, living in Pakistan. Both her hands were amputated after the incident. Her sister suffered a serious leg injury, while her brother's eye was hurt. Bibi told DW in 2023 that though it was extremely difficult for her to do her homework, she was determined to continue with her education.
In 2025, more than 5,000 people, mainly civilians, were killed or injured by landmines or unexploded ordnance according to a preliminary analysis by the NGO Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor. In South Sudan, 90% of the victims last year were children.
Landmines are actually designed to injure adults not kill them. This is because an injured soldier is more of a strain on an enemy country's resources than a dead soldier. But in peacetime, landmines continue to pose a deadly threat not only to soldiers but to civilians and particularly children, who often die.
Decades after the brutal conflicts from 1991 to 2001 that were Yugoslav wars, people continue to be killed and injured by landmines in former Yugoslavia, particularly Bosnia and Herzegovina.Landmines are not designed to kill adults but to maim them Image: Mast Irham/dpa/picture alliance
