With support from the United States, South and Central Asian countries are securing weapons and ammunition stockpiles, clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance that threaten civilians, promoting peace and security, and strengthening ties in the region, all of which advances U.S. regional and global security priorities.  Humanitarian mine action programs delivered through nongovernmental organizations in Afghanistan continue despite the August 2021 takeover by the Taliban.  U.S. assistance is designed to directly benefit Afghan civilians who face the dangers of landmines and explosive remnants of war without aiding the Taliban.  The Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan are addressing the substantial risk from unsecured and deteriorating weapons and ammunition through stockpile reduction and disposal.  Tajikistan is a regional leader in landmine clearance and explosive hazard remediation and is successfully managing its aging munitions stockpiles while clearing explosive hazards along its borders and within the central Rasht Valley region.  Sri Lanka’s widespread presence of mines, improvised explosive devices, and unexploded ordnance endanger civilian security, inhibit livelihoods, and impede the resettlement of communities.  U.S. assistance in the region not only removes these explosive hazards; demining organizations provide employment and make land safe for farming, which provides a measure of economic and food security.

Since 1993, the U.S. conventional weapons destruction program has invested more than $727 million in South and Central Asia to secure weapons and ammunition stockpiles, release land to safe and productive use, promote peace and security, and strengthen economic ties in the region, all of which helps to advance U.S. regional and global security priorities.

Through U.S. support, our implementing partners accomplished the following in fiscal year 2022:

• 15,967,148 square meters (3,946 acres) of land was safely returned to communities
• 11,687 landmines were destroyed
• 62,057 explosive remnants of war were destroyed
• 62 man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and components were destroyed
• 67,059 individuals received explosive ordnance risk education
• 3,836 explosive ordnance disposal callouts were conducted in response to urgent requests for unexploded ordnance to be investigated and rendered safe
• 1,150 metric tons of excess and obsolete ammunition were destroyed
• 51,207 survivors of explosive ordnance received medical or psychological support
• 12 weapons storage facilities were built or refurbished

The United States is the world’s leading financial supporter of conventional weapons destruction, providing more than $4.6 billion in assistance to more than 120 countries and areas since 1993.  For more information on U.S. humanitarian demining and conventional weapons destruction programs, see the latest edition of our annual report, To Walk the Earth in Safety.

For further information, please contact the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at PM-CPA@state.gov, and follow the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs on Twitter @StateDeptPM.

Original source can be found here.