Iraq: Basra sounds alarm, landmine threat escalates, demands action


The Basra Human Rights Office has called on the local government to implement key recommendations from the Landmine and War Remnants Victims Committee, urging immediate action to address the “growing threat” of unexploded ordnance, an official said on Tuesday.

Mahdi Al-Tamimi, the Office’s director, told Shafaq News that the Basra Provincial Council must activate the committee’s recommendations, which include holding urgent meetings with relevant authorities to resolve the longstanding issue. Al-Tamimi said, stressing that the issue requires “serious commitment from the Iraqi government and greater cooperation to clear minefields and war remnants.”

Read more…
Source: Shafaq News


Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter


Related:

  • UNMAS life-saving work in Iraq continues with support from the Government of Australia

    May 13, 2018

    The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) welcomes the contribution of AUD 11 million (USD 8.6 million) from the Government of Australia dedicated to explosive hazard management in support of humanitarian and stabilization efforts. Approximately 2.1 million civilians are still displaced due to the recent conflict and unsafe conditions to allow their return. A nation-wide intentions ...

  • UNMAS divers clear Fallujah’s Iron Bridge

    April 26, 2018

    The Iraqi city of Fallujah on the Euphrates River west of Baghdad has seen repeated conflict over the years. Then came repairs to infrastructure including the city’s Iron Bridge until recently spotted, submerged improvised explosive devices – IEDs – made the work unsafe. United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) Iraq Senior Programme Manager Pehr Lodhammar describes ...

  • New Zealand rotates troops in Iraq, sends nearly 100 soldiers

    April 20, 2018

    Almost 100 forces from New Zealand left for Iraq to train local troops as part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS), New Zealand’s Sun Live reported on Thursday. The coalition’s Task Group Taji in Iraq, made of military advisers from Australia and New Zealand, has so far trained thousands of Iraqi soldiers and federal police ...

  • U.N.: Denmark adds USD 3.7 mn to Iraq’s mine clearance efforts

    April 10, 2018

    Denmark has added USD 3.7 million for landmine clearance efforts in Iraq, the United Nations reported on Tuesday as the country struggles to contain hazards from explosives left over from the war against Islamic State militants. “The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq welcomes a renewed contribution of twenty five million (25,000,000) Danish Kroner ...

  • German military launches new mission in Iraq

    March 6, 2018

    The Bundeswehr plans to deploy more manpower and expand operations in the region, despite reports of a funding and equipment crisis. Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr, plagued by a chronic shortage of everything from combat vests to submarines, is about to launch a new mission in Iraq that will deploy up to 800 soldiers to train local forces ...

  • ‘Unlike anything I had ever seen’: Airman to receive Silver Star for actions in fierce Mosul fight

    January 17, 2018

    The special operations team had been waiting for weeks on the mission to retake Mosul, Iraq. “We were prepared for it, and, finally, it came down that we were going to get the go-ahead on the morning of Oct. 20,” said Staff Sgt. Christopher Lewis, a combat controller attached to a Navy SEAL team during the ...

  • Baghdad double suicide attack kills many

    January 15, 2018

    At least 35 people have been killed in a double suicide bombing in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, medical sources say, the second attack in three days. More than 90 were injured in the attack in Tayaran Square, in the city centre. Baghdad has repeatedly been the target of bombings and armed attacks since the Islamic State (IS) ...

  • Explosion targets convoy of head of Baghdad Provincial Council, kills 8

    January 14, 2018

    A suicide bomb on Saturday targeted the convoy of the head of Baghdad’s provincial council in the city’s Adan neighborhood killing eight and injuring 10 others. Riyadh al-Azaz, the head of the Council, said that the attack targeted his convoy killing one and injuring four more of his bodyguards, Al-Sumaria TV, an Iraqi media reported. The attack ...

  • Germany boosts support for clearing mines, explosives in Iraq

    January 10, 2018

    Germany has contributed a total of €44.2 million euros (about $52.5 million) to the United Nations Mine Action Service in Iraq for the clearance of mines and explosives. “Mine action saves lives. The German government is committed to mine action in Iraq and will continue to support UNMAS to work closely with the Government of Iraq ...

  • Three civilians injured in roadside bomb explosion in Baghdad

    January 8, 2018

    Three civilians were injured Monday in a roadside bomb blast in Baghdad, a security source was quoted as saying. Speaking to Alsumaria News, the source said, “A roadside explosive charge went off near a popular market at al-Nahrawan area in southeastern Baghdad, leaving three civilians injured.” “A security force rushed to the blast site and carried the ...

  • NATO trains Iraqi Security Forces to strengthen demining skills

    December 21, 2017

    In November and December this year, a mobile training team led by Slovakia conducted a training course in manual demining for Iraqi Security Forces. This was held in Iraq in the framework of NATO’s training and capacity building activities in support of Iraqi security forces and institutions. It was developed and implemented in coordination with ...

  • How ISIS Produced Its Cruel Arsenal on an Industrial Scale

    December 11, 2017

    Late this spring, Iraqi forces fighting the Islamic State in Mosul discovered three unfired rocket-propelled grenades with an unusual feature — a heavy liquid sloshing inside their warheads. Tests later found that the warheads contained a crude blister agent resembling sulfur mustard, a banned chemical weapon intended to burn a victim’s skin and respiratory tract. The ...

  • Commencement of the explosive hazards clearance activities in Mosul’s Old City

    December 6, 2017

    The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has recently been granted access to the Old City of Mosul to assess, survey and clear explosive hazards including improvised explosive devices and explosive remnants of war to complement the work of the Iraqi Security Forces. This will not only facilitate rehabilitation of infrastructure and assist the stabilization ...

  • Six months after ISIL, life is returning to Mosul despite hidden bomb threats

    November 27, 2017

    Mosul’s Al Qasoor Water Treatment Plant is on the eastern bank of the Tigris River which bisects the city that was, until about six months ago, one of the last strongholds of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Level (ISIL). The water treatment facility – which looks from the air like two dark-green turn tables ...

  • Canadian soldiers training Iraqi troops on IED threats

    November 17, 2017

    Canadian troops in Iraq have begun training the Iraq army on the threat of improvised explosive devices, and have updated their Royal Canadian Air Force contributions to Operation Impact. Approximately 20 Canadian army engineers from CFB Petawawa have been deployed to Besmaya, Iraq, to deliver explosive threat training to the Iraqi security forces. The Canadian Armed Forces ...

  • Iraqi army kills 4 suicide bombers before crossing into Iraq from Syria

    November 9, 2017

    The Iraqi army killed four suicide bombers before crossing into Iraq from Syria on Thursday, a commander was quoted saying. Maj. Gen. Nawman al-Zawbai, commander of the army’s 7th division, told Alsumaria News that a force from the division killed four militants clad in explosive belts who tried to sneak from the Syrian side into Iraq. ...

  • The Government of Germany continues to support the clearance of explosive hazards in the newly retaken areas of Iraq

    November 9, 2017

    The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) welcomes a renewed contribution of EUR 7 million from the Government of Germany for survey and clearance of explosive hazards, including improvised explosive devices and explosive remnants of war, in Iraq. The support will facilitate rehabilitation of infrastructure in areas retaken from ISIL/Da’esh, assist the stabilization process and ...

  • Six killed, wounded in IED blast southwest of Baghdad

    November 7, 2017

    Six people were killed and wounded on Tuesday when an explosive device went off in Baghdad on Tuesday, according to security sources. The sources told Baghdad Today that an explosive device planted near commercial stores in Haswa, Abu Gharib, exploded, killing one and wounding five others. Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of ...

  • State approves extension of Estonia’s missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo

    November 2, 2017

    The Estonian government on Thursday approved the extension of the mission of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo by a period of one year. The government gave its nod to a motion to extend by one year the participation of the EDF in the Resolute Support NATO follow-up mission in Afghanistan with ...

  • UK Forces Will Be Sent ‘Outside The Wire’ In Iraq As Islamic State Retreats

    October 24, 2017

    British personnel in Iraq will be sent ‘outside the wire’ as part of a change in strategy in the fight against so-called Islamic State. UK forces deployed at Iraq’s Al-Asad Airbase will train further forward, and provide enhanced protection for those Brits working in and around coalition bases. 2 RIFLES currently provide counter-IED, infantry and combat medical training to Iraqi Security Forces ...

  • Lethal roadside bomb that killed scores of U.S. troops reappears in Iraq

    October 12, 2017

    A roadside bomb that killed an American soldier in Iraq this month was of a particularly lethal design not seen in six years, and its reappearance on the battlefield suggests that U.S. troops could again be facing a threat that bedeviled them at the height of the insurgency here, U.S. military officials said. The device was of a ...

  • US-led coalition service member killed by IED in Iraq

    October 2, 2017

    The US-led coalition against so-called Islamic State (IS) says one service member has been killed and a second injured in a roadside bombing in Iraq. An improvised explosive device (IED) struck their vehicle on Sunday, according to a statement. The names and nationalities of the casualties are being held until their families have been notified. Seven US personnel have ...