WASHINGTON: The White House on Tuesday announced a return to an almost total ban on the use and production of anti-personnel landmines, leaving an exception for the military facing off against Pyongyang on the Korean peninsula.
A statement said the United States would align policy to “the international treaty prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines.” This restores US policy to the position prior to former president Donald Trump’s 2020 decision to authorize landmine use and production.
From now, the US military will “not develop, produce, or acquire” anti-personnel landmines. It also will not export such weapons, except for their destruction or other non-battlefield usage, the statement says.
The changes reflect President Joe Biden’s “belief that these weapons have disproportionate impact on civilians, including children, long after fighting has stopped, and that we need to curtail the use of (anti-personnel mines) worldwide,” the White House said.