Suspected to be contaminated by mines.

Article 5 deadline: 1 February 2025
(Unclear whether on target to meet deadline)

Recommendations for action

• The Sultanate of Oman should present plans for implementation of its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 obligations at the earliest opportunity, at least at the Mine Ban Treaty Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties.
• In doing so, Oman should detail any needs for international technical assistance in non-technical and technical survey of mined areas.

Contamination 

Oman is suspected to be contaminated by mines, though the precise location and extent of any remaining threat is not known. In its initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report, submitted in 2015, Oman declared that there were no areas in the Sultanate confirmed to be mined, but reported “many” suspected mined areas in the south, particularly Dhofar Region.[1]

According to the 2015 report, during the mid-1960s to mid-1970s the presence of rebel movements in Dhofar led to “vast” areas being affected by antipersonnel and antivehicle mines. After the end of the conflict in 1975, the government made significant efforts to clear the areas, but it is impossible to be sure that the areas have been fully cleared. This is for three reasons: the size of the region (about 99,000km²); the lack of maps or marking; and the terrain (which includes mountains and valleys), with many mined areas located on steep slopes. In addition, the rain over the years may have scattered the mines.[2]

In 2001, it had been reported that the Royal Army of Oman had mapped seven zones of suspected mined areas based on historical records of battlefield areas, unit positions, and mine incident reports.[3]

Program Management 

Oman has no functioning mine action program. It is expected that survey and clearance will be performed by its army engineers or police explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) personnel.

Land Release 

There are no reports of land release occurring in 2015.

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Oman is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 February 2025. It is too early to say whether Oman will meet this deadline but it should be readily achievable if modern land-release approaches are employed successfully. Oman did not take the floor at the Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties to present a plan to implement its Article 5 obligations.

The Monitor gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review supported and published by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which conducted mine action research in 2016 and shared it with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.