Casualties Overview

In 2016, the Monitor identified five landmine/ERW casualties in the Republic of Zimbabwe. Two were boys, both injured, a third was an adult male whose survival outcome was unknown, and two were deminers injured in the course of their work. The boys were injured while tampering or playing with an explosive resulting in the loss of one’s hand and fragmentation injuries to the other. The adult was injured while herding cattle. Of the two deminers, one suffered only minor injuries while the other lost a finger and sustained other injuries to his arms.[1]

Five casualties represent the lowest number reported since the Monitor began casualty tracking. The Zimbabwe Mine Action Centre (ZIMAC) attributes this reduction to the success of mine risk education activities and minefield marking programs.[2] However, the only casualty reporting mechanism in Zimbabwe comes from the two international operators, the HALO Trust and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which are working in a limited area along the northeastern border of Zimbabwe. No casualties were reported from the Rushitu to Muzite Mission minefield on the eastern border or the Sango Border Post to Crooks Corner Minefield on the southern border. Had casualties occurred in either of those minefields, it is not clear if those casualties would have been reported to ZIMAC.

Since 1980, 1,615 casualties have been reported in Zimbabwe.

Cluster munition casualties

There have been at least three cluster munition casualties in Zimbabwe, dating to the period of the 1970s liberation war. In an incident documented by a former Rhodesian soldier in his memoirs, two children were killed and a third injured when they found an unexploded bomblet and threw it against a large rock.[3]