Bosnia and Herzegovina without cluster ammunition

The contamination of Bosnia and Herzegovina with cluster munitions occurred during the last war in and amounted to 14.61 km2 in 140 locations throughout our country.

“Steel rain”, as cluster munitions are often called due to their extensive and devastating effects, claimed 195 human lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Thanks to the signing of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Production, Use, Storage and Transfer of Cluster Munitions, and its ratification in 2010, Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the last approved extension from 2021, undertook to clear all remaining known areas with cluster munitions, ending on 1 In September 2023.

Hereby, we would like to inform you that the specified deadline was met, and that all the tasks on which the cluster munition removal operations were carried out were completed in accordance with the planned deadlines.

7,932 pieces of cluster ammunition were found and destroyed.

Bearing in mind that in the earlier period our country completely destroyed all stockpiles of cluster bombs, with the completion of these tasks, the process of cleaning up the remnants of cluster munitions was also completed.

Of course, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still obliged to provide support to the victims of cluster munitions, in their rehabilitation and reintegration.

11. The meeting of member countries/signatories of the Convention on Cluster Munitions will be held in Geneva in the period 11-15 September 2023, at which the delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will submit an official report on this issue.

Aware of the importance of the results achieved, on September 8, 2023, a press conference was held in the hall of the BiH Parliament, with the aim of informing the domestic and international public that the obligations from this Convention have been fulfilled, in the part of cleaning the areas where these funds were located.

These are extraordinary results, of course, achieved in cooperation with the Norwegian People’s Aid NGO, the Republican Administration of Civil Protection of the Republika Srpska, the Federal Administration of Civil Protection of the Federation of BiH and the Armed Forces of BiH, which, with the professional help and supervision of BHMAC, successfully completed the tasks undertaken.

Saša Obradović, Director of the Center for Demining in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thanked and presented certificates of appreciation to all donors and organizations that participated in the implementation of cluster munition removal projects, especially the Government and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, through the NGO Norwegian People’s Aid, carried out the tasks of removing cluster munitions. ammunition at over 79 different locations in our country.

The press conference was attended by representatives of the Center for Demining in BiH, the Commission for Demining and the NGO Norwegian People’s Aid, as well as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway Olav Reinertsen, the Head of Mine Action and Disarmament of the NPA from Oslo Per Hakon Brevik, Brigadier General Ovidiu Lunga, Chief of Staff EUFOR, and representatives of entity civil protection, the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Association UDAS for assistance to victims of landmines and cluster munitions.

Although the process of removing cluster munitions has ended, Bosnia and Herzegovina still faces a struggle with the remaining mines and explosive devices, and we expect that the obligations in this direction will be fulfilled by 2027, which will make our country completely safe when it comes to and mine explosive threat.