US Plans to Relax Restrictions on Landmines – By Agence France Presse Staff (Military.com) / Jan 31 2020
The U.S. government plans to relax restrictions on the Army’s use of anti-personnel mines, reversing an Obama-era commitment that more than 160 countries have signed up to, and which aims to limit injuries to civilians, U.S. media reported Thursday.
According to CNN, President Donald Trump wants to reverse an order issued by his predecessor Barack Obama to bring the U.S. in line with the Ottawa Convention that bans the use, production, stockpiling or transfer of anti-personnel mines, although Obama exempted the use of landmines in the Korean peninsula’s de-militarized zone.
Trump was expected to rescind the 2014 order and leave it up to the Pentagon to decide on its use of landmines, CNN said, quoting unnamed military officials.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper did not deny the reports.
“There will be a change coming out. I’m not going to comment on it until it is,” he told reporters at a news conference.
The Pentagon is expected to only deploy anti-personnel mines if they are fitted with a feature that allow them to automatically self-destruct or deactivate after 30 days, CNN said.
Continue to article: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/01/31/us-plans-relax-restrictions-landmines.html
