Landmines destroy limbs and lives on Bangladesh-Myanmar border

"In the dense hill forests along Bangladesh's border with war-torn Myanmar, villagers are losing limbs to landmines, casualties of a conflict not of their making. Ali Hossain, 40, was collecting firewood in early 2025 when a blast shattered his life. "I went into the jungle with fellow villagers. Suddenly, there was an explosion and my leg was blown off," he said. "I screamed at the top of my voice. Neighbours rushed to stem the blood. They picked me up, gathered my severed leg and took me to hospital.""

"In Ashartoli, a small settlement in Bandarban district, the weapons of a foreign war have turned forests, farms and footpaths into killing grounds. Bangladesh's 271km (168-mile) eastern border with Myanmar cuts through forests and rivers, much of it unmarked. It is crossed daily by villagers, as their families have done for generations, to collect firewood or carry out small-time trading."

"Myanmar is the world's most dangerous country for landmine casualties, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which has documented the massive and growing use of the weapons, banned by many states. The group recorded more than 2,000 casualties in Myanmar in 2024, the latest full year for which statistics are available, double the total reported the year before. The use of mines appeared to significantly increase in 2024-2025, highlighting an increase in the number of mine victims, particularly near the border with Bangladesh."

Dense hill forests along the Bangladesh–Myanmar border have become littered with landmines, causing severe civilian injuries and amputations among villagers who cross the border to collect firewood and trade. A 40-year-old villager lost a leg in an early-2025 blast; neighbours rushed to help and carried him to hospital. Border communities in Bandarban and elsewhere face daily risks as unmarked rivers and jungles are crossed by generations of families. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines recorded more than 2,000 casualties in Myanmar in 2024 and reported a marked increase in mine use and victims in 2024–2025. Bangladesh accuses Myanmar’s military and rival armed groups, including Arakan Army fighters, of planting mines. More than a million Rohingya refugees also live in the border regions, remaining exposed to the spillover of fighting.

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