Iraq’s Ministry of Environment has prepared what it calls a comprehensive national strategic plan to address landmines and unexploded ordnance using modern technologies, as the country remains among the world’s most heavily contaminated, with nearly 35,000 Iraqis killed or injured by explosive remnants by the end of 2022 and around 8.5 million people still living under some level of threat.
The plan is based on humanitarian and development priorities with a focus on restoring life to affected areas and ensuring the safe return of citizens. Field surveys have been carried out “to determine the scale and type of contamination and establish accurate databases for areas contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance, with the aim of facilitating clearance operations and directing efforts according to levels of danger and population density.”
Read more…
Source: +964 News
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- UNMAS Iraq Programme Report 2020
April 29, 2021
Message from the Senior Programme Manager, Mr. Pehr Lodhammar What a tumultuous yet transformative and rewarding year it has been! When I look back at 2020, the challenges brought forth with the emergence and swift transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic seem almost surreal, albeit the resulting disruption to our operations was very much real, bringing with ...
- Iraq: ‘Gentle steps forward’ in restoring Mosul’s Commonwealth war cemetery
April 20, 2021
There have been “gentle steps forward” in the effort to repair the war cemetery in Mosul, following years of ISIS occupation. Iraq’s second-largest city spent three years under Islamic State’s brutal rule and many of its buildings were destroyed, including its war cemetery. When the occupation came to an end in 2017, it was estimated that 90% ...
- Iraq: At Least One Dead, Several Injured in Baghdad Bombing
April 15, 2021
Iraq military officials say a powerful explosion rocked a market in Baghdad’s Sadr City district Thursday, killing at least one person and injuring at least 12 others. The military statement did not say what caused the explosion or who was responsible, but witnesses and social media reports blamed a car bomb. Video from the scene showed ...
- Canada’s stabilization projects in Iraq and Syria
March 30, 2021
On March 30, 2021, the Government of Canada announced more than $43.6 million in funding for 11 stabilization projects in Iraq and Syria. These projects, funded through the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program, are aligned with the Global Coalition against Daesh’s stabilization efforts in these countries. Since 2016, Canada has committed up to $3.5 billion ...
- Canada extends anti-ISIS mission in Middle East by one year
March 30, 2021
The Liberal government has approved a slimmed-down extension of the Canadian military’s contribution to the ongoing fight against the remnants of ISIS. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan issued a statement Tuesday announcing an extension of the seven-year-old campaign, known as Operation Impact. The international effort to shore up the military capacity of Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon will see ...
- Iraq: PMF Fighter Killed, Three Others Wounded In Explosion Near Diyala’s Hamrin
March 28, 2021
A Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighter was killed and three others were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated on the outskirts of Diyala’s Hamrin overnight, a security source said on Sunday (March 28). The security source told Dijlah TV that incident occurred while the unit was on patrol between Saadiya and Miqdadiya sub-districts. No group ...
- Roadside bomb attacks target US-led coalition convoys across Iraq
March 11, 2021
Four roadside bombs have exploded separately near convoys of trucks carrying logistical equipment belonging to the US-led coalition forces in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, southern province of Muthanna bordering Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the central province of Babil, as well as the southern province of Basra. The Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network, citing an unnamed police ...
- Jammu and Kashmir: Sticky bombs – Security forces redraw SOPs; ask public not to leave vehicles unattended
March 7, 2021
Suspecting that ‘sticky bombs’ may have entered the valley, security forces are redrawing their standard operating procedures and also advising general public not to leave their vehicles unattended, officials said on Sunday. In the middle of last month, the Jammu and Kashmir police recovered an arms consignment consisting of a Improvised Explosive Device (IED) with an ...
- France provides additional USD 617,000 for UNMAS activities in Iraq
March 4, 2021
Baghdad, 04 March 2021 – The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq welcomes an additional contribution of EUR 505,000 (approximately USD 617,000) from the Government of France renewing its commitment in supporting the Government of Iraq to protect the populations threatened by the deadly explosive ordnance left behind by the Islamic State of ...
- Iraq: Rocket attack on coalition base in Erbil kills contractor, injures US service member
February 16, 2021
A rocket attack targeting the American-led military coalition in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil killed a civilian contractor and wounded nine others on Monday night, according to a coalition spokesman. More than a dozen rockets were fired toward the Erbil International Airport in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, with three directly hitting a military base housing ...
- Tiny Drones Are the Biggest Threat in the Middle East Since IEDs, Top General Says
February 8, 2021
State and nonstate actors have figured out another cheap way to target U.S. troops, a four-star general warned this week. Small drones anyone can “go out and buy at Costco right now” pose the most concerning tactical development since the rise of the improvised explosive device in Iraq and Afghanistan, Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., the ...
- Iraq: Twin suicide bombings in central Baghdad kill 28
January 21, 2021
At least 28 people have been killed and 70 others injured in a twin suicide bombing at a crowded commercial area in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, officials say. The bombers blew themselves up at a clothing market in Tayaran Square as they were pursued by security forces. The last deadly suicide attack in the city was in January ...
- Iraq: IED explosion kills at least three soldiers near Sinjar
January 17, 2021
An improvised explosive device (IED) blew up on a group of Iraqi soldiers in the Yezidi-majority Sinjar district of Nineveh province, local media reported. The bombing killed at least nine people, one official claimed. The explosion took place as a team of Iraqi soldiers attempted to defuse an IED in the Sharia area, which administratively belongs ...
- Europol: Returning Foreign Fighter Arrested In Spain
January 12, 2021
The suspect was part of the so-called Islamic State in the Iraqi-Syrian conflict zone. Europol supported an operation of the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) leading to the arrest of a member of the so-called Islamic State. The suspect had recently returned from the conflict zone on the border of Iraq and Syria. Two other individuals ...
- Trends in Terrorism: What’s on the Horizon in 2021?
January 5, 2021
The year 2020 was unprecedented in many ways. Just three days into the year, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qasem Soleimani. That news was soon eclipsed by the worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus and the ensuing COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns, protests, and a bitterly ...