Direct proof of use
Human Rights Watch identified POM-2S antipersonnel mines in the 2011 Syrian Civil War through January 2025 clearance reporting from Kafr Nabl, a village south of Idlib. 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.
A separate 2026 CIR/SIRAJ investigation identified Soviet POM-2 antipersonnel mines in photos from farmland in Ako in the Latakia countryside. CIR and SIRAJ tied the documented mine contamination to former line-of-contact areas in Idlib, Hama, and Latakia that they described as targeted by Assad regime mining operations, while the Ako photographs do not identify the exact unit that placed the pictured mine.
Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report, CIR SIRAJ Russian-made Mines Investigation
Timeline
The supported sequence starts with 2018-2019 accounts from Kafr Nabl. HRW reported residents' statements that the Syrian army emptied the village, used it as a de facto military base, and mined the surrounding area near the then-frontline with Hayat Tahrir al-Shams-controlled territory.
After Assad's government fell on December 8, 2024, residents began returning to contaminated homes and farmland. HRW reported that a January 15, 2025 clearance team found POM-2S among several antipersonnel and anti-vehicle mine types around Kafr Nabl, while CIR/SIRAJ later documented POM-2 mines photographed in Ako during fieldwork and open-source research published in early 2026.
Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report, CIR SIRAJ Russian-made Mines Investigation
Narrative
In Syria, the POM-2 record is one of post-battle mine contamination and area denial rather than a documented combat firing or transfer event. The two direct sources identify POM-2-family mines in former frontline or military-base areas after territorial control changed and displaced residents returned to agricultural land and damaged villages.
The documented side is Syrian government and allies. HRW's Kafr Nabl account attributes the mined area to Syrian army activity in 2018-2019; CIR/SIRAJ describes the broader line-of-contact mining pattern as Assad regime operations and says many identified mines were Soviet-made and held by former government forces. The sources support POM-2-family presence and use as antipersonnel area denial, but they do not name a unit responsible for each individual mine found after the war's front lines shifted.
Sources: HRW 2025 Syria Landmines Report, CIR SIRAJ Russian-made Mines Investigation
