ANOTHER international human rights law was duly ignored today, when Washington announced that it would allow Ukraine to use US-supplied landmines, a decision that drew condemnation from a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organisation.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters in Laos, where he was attending a meeting with his south-east Asian counterparts, that Ukraine needed to use the indiscriminate weapons in order to help slow Russian troops from advancing further west.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) condemned Washington’s decision and reminded President Joe Biden administration that the weapons were banned by most countries by the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty due to their devastating impact on civilians.