NEW YORK, November 21. /TASS/. Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned the US decision to transfer anti-personnel mines to Kiev, calling it reckless and warning it will lead to civilian casualties, said Ben Linden, director of advocacy for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International USA.

“This is a reckless decision and a deeply disappointing failure for the president (Joe Biden), who once agreed that landmines put more civilians at increased risk of injury. It’s devastating and frankly shocking,” Linden said in a message on Amnesty International’s website. . According to Linden, these landmines “are inherently indiscriminate weapons that maim and kill civilians long after conflicts have ended and should not have a place in any country’s arsenal.”

The statement further urges Washington to rethink its position to “protect civilians from the indiscriminate harm that will surely result from the use of these landmines.”

The Pentagon has confirmed that the US administration has authorized the deployment of anti-personnel mines in Ukraine. The Ministry stated that it is about non-persistent mines, which become inert over time.

In a separate report, The Washington Post revealed that President Biden approved sending antipersonnel mines to Ukraine, reversing a 2022 policy that had limited their use outside the Korean Peninsula.