Dangers Here

Home/Hazards/Landmines & UXO

Landmines and unexploded ordnance: stay on the hard surface

Decades after the conflicts that laid them, landmines and unexploded ordnance still kill and maim thousands of people a year, overwhelmingly civilians and a significant share children. For a traveller the rule is simple and absolute: in a contaminated country, stay on paved roads and well-used paths, and never enter marked or suspected ground for any reason.

  • 11High risk
  • 11Medium
  • 7Low
  • 29Zones tracked

Reading the markings

Red-painted stones or sticks, red triangles, skull-and-crossbones signs, and red-and-white tape all mark suspected hazardous areas — though marking standards vary and much contaminated land is unmarked. Unexplained absences are also information: untilled fields in a farming area, a disused track, or a building nobody enters.

If you are in a minefield

Stop moving. Do not turn around and retrace your steps by eye — footprints are not reliable. Stand still, call for help, and wait for someone trained to guide you out. This advice sounds passive and it is the advice that saves limbs.

How to avoid it

  • Stay on paved roads and established, well-used paths in any contaminated country.
  • Never pick up, kick or move any metal object, ordnance, or interesting-looking debris.
  • Do not enter abandoned buildings, trenches, bunkers or military positions.
  • Take local advice on which areas are cleared, and treat any warning marking as absolute.
  • Keep children close and make sure they understand not to touch anything.
  • Avoid the verges when relieving yourself on a rural road — this is a recurring cause of casualties.

Where we track it

29 zones in the Dangers Here hazard database, by danger level.

High

  • Afghanistan
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • Cambodia
  • Ethiopia
  • Iraq
  • Lao PDR
  • Nagorno-Karabakh / Azerbaijan
  • Türkiye
  • Ukraine
  • Vietnam
  • Western Sahara

Medium

  • Angola
  • Colombia
  • Egypt
  • Lebanon
  • Libya
  • Myanmar
  • Somalia
  • South Sudan
  • Sudan
  • Syria
  • Yemen

Low

  • Croatia
  • Ecuador
  • Peru
  • Serbia / Kosovo
  • Tajikistan
  • Thailand
  • Zimbabwe

Questions

Where is landmines & uxo a risk?

We track 29 zones for this hazard. 11 are rated high risk, including Afghanistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Iraq. 11 are rated medium and 7 low.

How do you avoid landmines & uxo?

Stay on paved roads and established, well-used paths in any contaminated country. Never pick up, kick or move any metal object, ordnance, or interesting-looking debris. Do not enter abandoned buildings, trenches, bunkers or military positions.

Reading the markings

Red-painted stones or sticks, red triangles, skull-and-crossbones signs, and red-and-white tape all mark suspected hazardous areas — though marking standards vary and much contaminated land is unmarked. Unexplained absences are also information: untilled fields in a farming area, a disused track, or a building nobody enters.

Get the alerts on your phone

Dangers Here warns you when you enter a hazard zone — even offline, even with the app closed. No account, no tracking, free.

Get it on Google Play Get it on the App Store15 Oct

Other hazards