Albania

Explosive legacies of the Kosovo war

In the early 2000s, northern Albania was heavily contaminated with landmines and explosive remnants of war, a direct consequence of the Kosovo conflict. The contamination caused numerous civilian casualties and restricted access to vital resources such as water, farmland and grazing areas. Thousands of unexploded munitions from the fighting added to the danger and continued to threaten local communities.

Building national demining capacity

Albania was one of FSD’s first humanitarian demining programmes. Initiated by the ICRC and supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, FSD experts began by surveying and mapping contaminated areas before training and deploying several teams of Albanian deminers.

Manual clearance operations were supported by a soil preparation machine and an armoured vehicle, with most activities taking place in the northern provinces of Has and Kukës until 2004.

Towards a mine-free Albania

FSD’s work helped restore access to land that was essential for the livelihoods of local communities. Combined with the efforts of other humanitarian demining organisations, this contributed to Albania being officially declared mine-free in 2009, marking an important milestone in the country’s recovery and development.

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