On Tuesday, a seven-year-old child, Hamrin Yadigar, was killed by a landmine explosion while playing in the village of Haji Awadi in the Kifri district, Garmian, Iraqi Kurdistan, a local source reported. According to the source, emergency services swiftly reached the scene to secure the area and commence an investigation into the explosion’s circumstances. In the Kurdistan Region, decades of conflict have left behind a legacy of landmines and unexploded ordnance. Official statistics from the Ministry of Interior confirm that rural districts face recurring landmine incidents each year, with many casualties reported—often affecting children and families.
Read more…
Source: Shafaq News
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- Iraq: Mine Clearance Progress Advances in Kurdistan Region’s Duhok Province
December 12, 2025
A resident of Duhok’s Mangeshk subdistrict has resumed farming on his land for the first time in 35 years, following the removal of mines and unexploded ordnances (UXOs) that had made the area too dangerous to cultivate. Local residents say more than 20 farmers in the Mangeshk area have long suffered from the presence of ...
- Buried explosives still shape daily life for millions of Iraqis
November 26, 2025
The warning signs are easy to miss. A faded skull-and-crossbones nailed to a fence in southern Iraq. A rusted metal stake on the edge of a field in the Kurdistan Region. A strip of red tape fluttering beside an olive grove. For Iraqis, these are part of the landscape — reminders that decades of conflict ...
- Iraq: PMF member killed, two injured in blast at Baghdad explosives site
November 4, 2025
One member of the Popular Mobilization Forces was killed and two others were injured Tuesday in an accidental explosion during a technical operation in Baghdad’s Jurf al-Naddaf area, according to the force’s Explosives Disposal Directorate. The directorate said the blast was caused by explosive materials left behind by ISIS militants that had been stored inside one ...
- China contributes to Iraq’s mine action capacity
November 4, 2025
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq issued a statement on Monday hailing a Chinese contribution aiming to assist UNMAS in developing long-term national mine action capabilities in Iraq, protecting people from the threat of explosive ordnance, and promoting socioeconomic and reconstruction initiatives in affected areas. According to the UNMAS, Iraq ...
- Iraq: KRG’s Mine Action Completes Major Mine Clearance in Tanjaro, Slemani
October 27, 2025
On Monday, 27 October 2025, as part of its ongoing efforts, the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA) Slemani Office, through the Committee for the Handover of Cleared Minefields, officially handed over a piece of land that was formerly a farm named “Mahmoud Khan.” The land is located in the village of Qrga, within the ...
- Iraq: KRG’s Mine Action Efforts Continue with Clearance of Gre Mire Minefield
October 20, 2025
On Monday, 20 October 2025, the Committee for the Handover of Cleared Minefields of the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA), Duhok Office, officially handed over the Gre Mire minefield in the Darkare District of Zakho to its rightful owner, following the successful completion of clearance operations. The Gre Mire site, covering an area of 27,000 ...
- Iraq: Explosion kills two ICTS fighters in Al-Anbar
September 21, 2025
On Sunday, two Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) fighters were killed and an officer injured when an improvised explosive device detonated in western Al-Anbar province. According to the Service’s statement, a joint force from al-Anbar’s Intelligence and ICTS inspected a site in the Rahaw Plains area, recently targeted by an airstrike that killed a group of ISIS ...
- Iraq: Roadside bomb wounds two Iraqi soldiers in Diyala
September 13, 2025
Two Iraqi soldiers were wounded on Saturday when a roadside bomb hit their patrol in Diyala province, a source told Shafaq News. No further details were provided. Iraq remains heavily contaminated with Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and unexploded ordnance (UXO) from years of conflict. Read more… Source: Shafaq News Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters The latest news and ...
- Iraq: Kurdish mine agency says two million square meters of land cleared in 2025
September 1, 2025
Around two million square meters of land littered with mines and unexploded ordnance have been cleared across the Kurdistan Region over the past seven months, a local official said on Monday, adding landmines have claimed the lives of ten people during the same time period. Iraq and the Kurdistan Region continue to grapple with the legacy ...
- Iraq: KRG Achieves Major Progress in Landmine Clearance Across the Region
August 27, 2025
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) ninth cabinet has announced significant achievements in its ongoing campaign to protect citizens, support reconstruction, and safeguard the environment through extensive landmine clearance operations. According to the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA), over 11.3 million square meters of landmines have been cleared in the Kurdistan Region. As a result, 52 ...
- Iraq: More than 600 Shia pilgrims hospitalised due to chlorine gas leak
August 10, 2025
More than 600 Shia pilgrims in Iraq have been briefly hospitalised with respiratory problems after inhaling chlorine as the result of a leak at a water treatment station, according to authorities. The incident took place overnight on the route between the two Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, in the centre and south of Iraq, ...
- Iraq: Two killed in Baghdad ministry gunfight
July 27, 2025
Iraqi counterterrorism forces were deployed to southern Baghdad after gunmen stormed a Ministry of Agriculture office, killing two people and wounding 12 others, the Interior Ministry announced on Sunday. According to a statement, the incident took place in the al-Dora district during an administrative meeting at the Baghdad Agriculture Directorate. One of the fatalities was believed ...
- Iraq: Drone attack halts oil output at Sarsang field in Duhok Governorate
July 15, 2025
A drone attack halted production at the Sarsang oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Tuesday only hours before its U.S. operator signed a deal to develop another field. The Sarsang field is operated by HKN Energy, a privately held U.S. oil and gas company active in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and owned by Hillwood Energy, part of ...
- Turkey: 12 soldiers die in methane gas incident in northern Iraq
July 7, 2025
Twelve Turkish soldiers died after being exposed to methane gas during a search operation in northern Iraq, the Turkish National Defense Ministry reported on Monday. The soldiers were carrying out a sweep operation in a cave at an altitude of 852 meters (2,795 feet) used by militants of the outlawed PKK terror group in the Operation ...
- Iraq: UNAMI condemns ‘attack’ on Yazidi IDP Camp in Duhok
July 1, 2025
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on Tuesday strongly condemned an explosion that struck the Darkar camp housing internally displaced Yazidis in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province, calling for a full investigation into what it described as an “attack.” Earlier in the day, an explosive-laden drone crashed into the Darkar camp, located about 36 ...
- Iraq: Kirkuk Air Base and residential area hit by rocket attack
June 30, 2025
At least two rockets struck the Kirkuk Air Base and a nearby residential neighborhood in Kirkuk governorate on Monday night (June 30, 2025), according to security sources. One source reported that two Katyusha rockets were fired, with one landing between two runways at the air base and the other hitting a house in the Al-Uruba neighborhood. ...
- Iraq: Landmine explosion kills shepherd in Erbil Governorate
June 28, 2025
On Saturday, a young man was killed when a landmine exploded in Sidekan district, north of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region. According to the Erbil Directorate of Mine Affairs, Sadiq Osman had entered the area to herd sheep when the explosion occurred, causing his immediate death. Landmines and unexploded ordnance continue to pose a ...
- IAEA Director General Grossi Statement to UNSC on Situation in Iran
June 13, 2025
Early this morning, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed of the military operation launched by Israel which includes attacks on nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. As I reported this morning to the IAEA Board of Governors, we have been in permanent contact with the Iran Nuclear Regulatory Authority, to ascertain the ...
- France takes command of NATO Mission Iraq
May 22, 2025
On Thursday 22 May, Major General Christophe Hintzy from France assumed command of NATO Mission Iraq, at a change of command ceremony in Baghdad. He succeeds Lieutenant General Lucas Schreurs from the Netherlands, who had been in post since May 2024. The ceremony was attended by Iraqi officials, Ambassadors from Allied and partner countries, NATO ...
- Iraq detains Daesh suspect accused of helping to incite New Orleans truck ramming attack
April 29, 2025
An official with the Daesh group has been detained in Iraq, suspected of being involved with inciting the pickup truck-ramming attack in New Orleans that killed more than a dozen people celebrating the start of 2025, Iraqi authorities said. Iraqi authorities had received requests from the US to help in the investigation of the attack in ...
- Iraq: IKMAA Destroys Mines, Explosives, and War Remnants in the Kurdistan Region
April 22, 2025
As part of ongoing mine clearance efforts across the Kurdistan Region, the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA) has safely destroyed hundreds of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) that posed a significant threat to civilians. IKMAA Operations in Erbil: In Majidawa village, Soran District, IKMAA teams successfully carried out an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operation. Following ...
- Iraq: ISIS suicide bomber detonates near army position in Salahaddin province
March 19, 2025
Two ISIS militants, including a suicide-bomber who self-detonated, were killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces in northern Iraq on Wednesday, according to Baghdad’s Security Media Cell. “After intensive monitoring and the use of technical and intelligence resources, a force from the second battalion of the 88th Brigade and Military Intelligence Directorate detachments within ...