Note: SHAs = suspected hazardous areas.

Contamination

The Republic of Uzbekistan’s forces have laid mines along its international borders at various times, including on its borders with Afghanistan in 1998, with Kyrgyzstan in 1999, and with Tajikistan in 2000. In 2010, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Ban Ki-moon criticized as “unacceptable” Uzbekistan’s emplacing of mines along parts of its border that have not been delineated.[1]

Soviet troops also laid mines on the Uzbek-Afghan border. Survey on the Tajik side of the border over several years had identified a total of 57 SHAs as of December 2008 (size unknown), which were subsequently deemed to be on Uzbekistan territory. Uzbekistan had reportedly cleared 95% of the minefields along the Tajik border by the end of 2007 in demining operations conducted by Uzbek army deminers in cooperation with Tajik border troops.[2]

The first ever state visit by the President of Uzbekistan to Tajikistan took place in March 2018, and several agreements were signed between the two countries, including one on demarcation of the separate regions of the Tajik-Uzbek border. Tajikistan expected decisions to be taken in 2018 regarding clarification and identification of SHAs on the Uzbek border, and any demining operations will require agreement and cooperation between both nations (see Tajikistan’s Mine Action profile for further information).[3]

In 2005, media reports cited Kyrgyz officials in Batken province as saying Kyrgyz border guards had checked previously mined areas of the border around the settlements of Ak-Turpak, Chonkara, and Otukchu, which had been cleared by Uzbek deminers, and confirmed that they were free of contamination.[4]

Program Management

There is no functioning mine action program in Uzbekistan.

Land Release

There are no reports of any land release occurring in 2017 or in recent years.

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from “Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.