2011 Syrian Civil War

OZM-72 in the 2011 Syrian Civil War

Human Rights Watch documented OZM-72 antipersonnel mines found during January 2025 clearance in Kafr Nabl, Idlib, in an area residents said the Syrian army had mined after turning the village into a military base during the Syrian Civil War.

Weapon profileOZM-72
SideSyrian government and alliesRoleArea Denial
OZM-72, Bounding antipersonnel fragmentation mine, Infantry Weapons - 2011 Syrian Civil War
Image source: File:OZM-72.jpg

Evidence Map

ClaimSources
OZM-72 mines were found during clearance operations around Kafr Nabl in Idlib after the fall of Assad's government.

Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report

Residents attributed the mine contamination around Kafr Nabl to Syrian army occupation and mine emplacement during the 2018-2019 period.

Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report

The documented role was antipersonnel area denial and post-battle mine contamination in agricultural and residential return areas.

Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report, Sappers OZM-72 Technical Reference

Timeline

OZM-72 In 2011 Syrian Civil War

  1. Syrian army turns Kafr Nabl into a military base

    Human Rights Watch reported residents' accounts that the Syrian army forced households out of Kafr Nabl between 2018 and 2019, used the village as a military base, and mined the area.

    Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report

  2. Residents begin returning after Assad government's fall

    HRW reported that residents returned to Kafr Nabl two or three days after the fall of Assad's government and soon encountered landmines in fields near the former army base.

    Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report

  3. Clearance team finds OZM-72 among mines around Kafr Nabl

    A clearance team member told HRW that operations around Kafr Nabl found OZM-72 mines among several antipersonnel and anti-vehicle mine types.

    Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report

Documented Use

Direct proof of use

Human Rights Watch identified OZM-72 mines in the Syrian Civil War through clearance evidence from Kafr Nabl, a village south of Idlib. In its April 2025 report on landmines and explosive remnants in Syria, HRW wrote that residents described the Syrian army forcing households out between 2018 and 2019, turning the village into a military base, and mining the area along territory then controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Shams.

The model-specific evidence came from January 2025 clearance work after Assad's government fell. HRW reported that a clearance team found OZM-72, PMN-1, YM-1, POM-2S, PMN-type antipersonnel mines, and YM-2 and YM-3 anti-vehicle mines during operations around Kafr Nabl.

Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report

Timeline

The supported sequence begins in 2018-2019, when the Syrian army allegedly emptied Kafr Nabl and turned the area into a military base. HRW's reporting links that period to mine emplacement around fields and homes near the base.

After the fall of Assad's government on December 8, 2024, residents began returning to the village. In early January 2025, one volunteer team cleared at least 70 mines, and on January 15 another team arrived; during those clearance operations, HRW's source identified OZM-72 among the additional mines found.

Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report

Narrative

In the Syria record, the OZM-72 appears as an emplaced antipersonnel mine and post-battle clearance hazard rather than as a transferred or newly introduced system. The documented user in the Kafr Nabl account is the Syrian army, and the supported location is the Idlib countryside around Kafr Nabl and nearby Fatatra.

The mine's catalog role is area denial. A technical reference describes the OZM-72 as a Soviet bounding, tripwire-operated antipersonnel fragmentation mine with all-round effect, while HRW's Syria reporting places the discovered mines in agricultural and residential return areas contaminated after military occupation. The available sources do not identify the exact fuze configuration of the OZM-72 mines found around Kafr Nabl.

Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report, Sappers OZM-72 Technical Reference

Related Weapons by Role

MON-50, Directional fragmentation antipersonnel mine, Infantry WeaponsInfantry WeaponsMON-50Directional fragmentation antipersonnel mineThe MON-50 is a Soviet directional fragmentation antipersonnel mine broadly comparable in role to the M18 Claymore, with a plastic body, folding legs, and a forward fragmentation pattern. It can be command-detonated or configured with tripwire and other fuzing, making it a compact infantry obstacle and ambush munition. Direct monitoring sources document MON-50 use by Russian or Russian-aligned forces in eastern Ukraine, the full-scale Russia-Ukraine War, and the 2019-2020 Tripoli fighting in Libya.
MON-series anti-personnel mine, Directional fragmentation anti-personnel mine family, Infantry WeaponsInfantry WeaponsMON-series anti-personnel mineDirectional fragmentation anti-personnel mine familyThe MON series is a Soviet/Russian family of directional fragmentation anti-personnel mines, including MON-50, MON-90, MON-100, and MON-200 patterns that project preformed fragments across a defined sector. Monitoring groups identify the family in Russian mine warfare in Ukraine and in Russian-linked Tripoli minefields in Libya, while the Nagorno-Karabakh record is narrower and rests on postwar MON-50 clearance reporting.
MON-90, Directional fragmentation antipersonnel mine, Infantry WeaponsInfantry WeaponsMON-90Directional fragmentation antipersonnel mineThe MON-90 is a Soviet-designed directional fragmentation antipersonnel mine and the 90 m member of the MON family between the smaller MON-50 and larger MON-100. Technical references describe a plastic-bodied, tree-spike-mounted mine with about 2,000 steel fragments, two M-10 threaded fuze wells, and command or tripwire initiation depending on setup. Direct monitoring sources place MON-90 mines in Russian use in Ukraine after the 2022 invasion and in Russian-linked Tripoli mine contamination during the Second Libyan Civil War.
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Sources