Nearly 390,000 antipersonnel mines and 27,000 anti-vehicle mines were destroyed in 2010.

Mine clearance is taking place in about 45 countries. The biggest operations are in Afghanistan and Cambodia. But while landmines are being removed, Hansen said more are being buried.

“This year we’ve seen an increase in government use of antipersonnel mines. We’ve seen new use in Libya. New use in the past couple months in Israel. Ongoing use in Myanmar. And we have very serious allegations since our report went to print of use in Syria,” she said.

Losing legs, arms, lives

The landmine report, released in Bangkok, Thailand, said thousands were killed or injured in 2010.

“We’ve recorded 4,191new casualties in 2010. But we know that number’s not correct because there’s underreporting in a lot of different countries. Especially in the middle of conflict zones, it’s just difficult to get accurate data. So probably the real number is probably upwards of 6,000. But when we look at what that means in the big picture, it means we have hundreds of thousands of survivors. And that total keeps growing year after year and these people need assistance for the rest of their lives,” Hansen said.

The Landmine Monitor keeps track of who’s producing the weapons.

“There are 12 countries that we list as producers of antipersonnel mines, largely because they reserve the right to produce mines. But in terms of mines actually coming off the production lines right now, we believe that there [are] only three countries actively producing – Myanmar/Burma, India and Pakistan,” she said.