The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has called for stronger efforts to rid the Sahel region of landmines that it says pose a threat to refugees and internally displaced persons in the troubled region.
UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch said mines while it appears that the intended targets of numerous anti-government and non-state armed groups are the security forces, more and more civilians are indiscriminately killed and maimed.
Baloch made the remarks at a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
She noted that the most affected countries were Nigeria and Chad, both of which have struggled with jihadist violence for years.
In northeastern Nigeria, some 230 people were killed by IEDs and more than 300 injured in 2019, while more than 15 incidents have been reported so far in 2020.
At a refugee camp in eastern Chad on 24 June, four refugee children aged from 9 to 12 were killed and three others seriously injured when they picked up an unexploded device and tried to open it.
Other countries that have also been affected by the landmines include Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.
Sahel is facing one of the fastest growing displacement crises in the world, where millions have fled indiscriminate attacks by armed groups against civilians such as summary executions.
Baloch said there is a vital need for governments, humanitarian organizations and parties to conflict to expand mine action work to protect civilians from harm.
