The Republic of Tajikistan, commonly known as Tajikistan, is a mountainous country located in Central Asia bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. It has an area of 143,100 km2 and a population of approximately 9 million people. In October 2020, Emomali Rahmon was elected president for the next 7 years for a fifth term in a row with a margin of 90%.
The country became an independent sovereign nation on the 9th of September 1991 when the Soviet Union disintegrated. A period of instability followed, and tension between supporter of the government and the opposition intensified to the point where faction took up weapons. Shortly after independence, the country sunk into a civil war between factions and clans, lasting from 1992 to 1997.
During this period, the Central Region was heavily contaminated by landmines and Explosive Remnants of War. At the same time, Russian forces laid landmines on the Tajik-Afghan border to protect the border and border posts from armed group trying to get into the country from Afghanistan. A ceasefire was agreed between Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan, and the opposition in 1997 under the guidance of the UN. Starting 1999, Uzbekistan forces laid mines along the border with Tajikistan to protect armed groups from entering the country from Tajikistan.
Norwegian People's Aid Tajikistan
During survey activities carried out in 2004 and 2005 by Tajikistan Mine Action Centre (TMAC) and Swiss Foundation for Demining, a total of 159 suspected hazardous areas (SHA) were identified. In 2009, Norwegian People´s Aid was invited by the Government of Tajikistan and TMAC to conduct land release, including non-technical survey (NTS), technical survey (TS) and clearance. A Mine Action Program was set up in July 2010 and field operations were first carried out in November 2010. The aim is to support Tajikistan in fulfilling its obligation in accordance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty with a deadline on 31st of December 2025.
Between 1992 and 2012, more than 800 accidents have been recorded, including more than 350 fatalities. Landmine contamination restricts the possibility to use land for agricultural purposes and represents a serious risk to civil populations engaged in farming, wood gathering, and other rural activities.
In 2022, NPA released 905,174 m2 through land release activities including non-technical survey, technical survey, and clearance (mine and battle area clearance). This number includes 151,214 m2 cancelled, 179,120 m2 reduced, and 574,840 m2 cleared. The teams found 846 anti-personnel mines, 55 cluster munition remnants (CMR), and 293 other Unexploded Ordnance (UXOs).
At the end of 2022, the country still has an estimated 12 km2 of AP mine contamination. Moreover, 20 % of suspected hazardous areas in the country are on the Uzbek-Tajik border, parts of which have still to be demarcated and have not yet been surveyed.
Only 7 % of land in Tajikistan is usable for agriculture due to its mountainous terrain - the fact that more than 12 million m2 of Tajikistan’s land remain suspected of contamination is therefore detrimental to subsistence and economic development.
NPA has the first and only female demining capacity in Tajikistan and in the Central Asian Region. They have been successfully conducting land release activities since 2014.
Tajikistan has some of the world’s highest (3,700 m) and least accessible minefields in the world.
The NPA Tajikistan programme has released a total of 10,686,109 m2, completed over 100 clearance tasks and found and destroyed 25,474 landmines; 398 cluster munitions, and 3,426 ERW as of the end of 2022.
NPA is working in cooperation with the Tajikistan National Mine Action Center, the Border Guard Forces of Tajikistan and with the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan in order to build national capacity in Tajikistan.
