Iraq prepares national landmine clearance plan as 8.5 million still live under threat


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:

  • Iraqi forces thwart car bomb attack in Gogjali, militant arrested

    June 3, 2019

    Iraqi security forces announced, on Monday, foiling a booby-trapped vehicle attack and arresting a militant in Gogjali area, east of Mosul. In a press statement, the Media Cell said that the security forces apprehended a suspect, after a partial explosion in a pick-up vehicle, in front of his house in Gogjali area in the city of ...

  • 27 Iraqi mine action experts under training in Cambodia

    May 27, 2019

    Twenty-seven Iraqi mine action experts started to get a 15-day training course in Cambodia on Monday, Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mines Action Center (CMAC) said. The Iraqi experts are from the Ministry of Health and Environment, the Ministry of Interior and the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency, he said. He added that the training ...

  • Experiencing the work of a landmine clearance charity

    May 24, 2019

    Even though I was told it was safe, holding an Islamic State group (IS) homemade explosive was still unnerving. Half an hour earlier it had been buried in the ground on the outskirts of the Iraqi city of Fallujah. It was made up of two pieces of wood with bits of cut-up hosepipe. A length of wire ...

  • Statement on New Use of Anti-Personnel Mines, Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meeting

    May 23, 2019

    Let me start by giving some context on the new use of antipersonnel mines worldwide.  In recent years, since the last Review Conference, the use of antipersonnel mines by government forces has been rare.  In most years, only one or two governments used mines—Myanmar and Syria – and neither of them used large numbers of ...

  • Explosive hazards in Mosul a major threat for years to come

    April 29, 2019

    The classroom of 13-year-old boys was vibrant, filled with energy, as the final lesson of the day began, addressing a serious topic. One of the guest instructors held up posters of various suspicious objects. Some were more obviously mortars or hand grenades, but others appeared to be fun things, such as toys and dolls. Representatives from the United Nations ...

  • Tribal leader killed in Mosul roadside bombing

    April 11, 2019

    A roadside bomb killed a tribal leader and wounded two of his relatives in the al-Shoura district south of Mosul on Wednesday, local officials confirmed. “An IED exploded targeting the convoy of Sheikh Hassan al-Hadidi on Wednesday killing him instantly and injuring his son and nephew,” Khalaf al-Hadidi, a member of Nineveh Provincial ...

  • Australia donates additional $1.5 million to de-mining efforts in Iraq

    February 18, 2019

    Australia recently donated an additional USD 1.5 million to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in contributions to demining efforts in Iraqi areas that were liberated from the Islamic State. Explosives the terrorist organization planted continue to be one of the greatest threats that impede the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their homes. The ...

  • Mosul’s ‘3D contamination’ adds to challenges of deadly mine clearance work

    February 7, 2019

    Government-led military campaigns and conflict to retake Iraq’s cities from the extremists, also known as Da’esh, displaced more than 5.8 million people between 2014 and 2017. Many are still homeless or unable to return home because of what UNMAS calls “significant explosive hazard contamination” linked to airstrikes and improvised explosive devices left behind by ISIL and ...

  • How is the reconstruction of Iraq going?

    January 31, 2019

    In July 2017, the last Islamic State fighters left in the city of Mosul attempted to flee by swimming across the mighty Tigris River that runs through Iraq’s second largest city. They had been defeated. As patriotic music blared out of portable speaker systems, Iraqi soldiers danced on tanks and re-raised their national flag. But, as ...

  • Iraqi scientist says he helped ISIS make chemical weapons

    January 21, 2019

    In the weeks after his city fell to the Islamic State, Iraqi scientist Suleiman al-Afari sat in his deserted government office and waited for the day when the terrorists would show up. The black-clad militants who had seized Mosul in 2014 were making their way through each of its bureaucracies, rounding up workers and managers who ...

  • UK aid removing Daesh explosives and helping Iraqis return home

    January 5, 2019

    More than a million Iraqis whose lives have been devastated by Daesh safely returned home in 2018, made possible in part thanks to a huge UK aid funded mine clearance mission. The Department for International Development (DFID) has today (Saturday 5 January) announced further support to clear explosives from schools, hospitals and roads in Iraq, eradicating ...

  • Italy donates 585,000 euros to explosive hazard clearance in Iraq

    December 20, 2018

    Italy has committed a further 585,000 euros to UNMAS, the UN’s mine clearing agency, to support efforts to clear Iraq of landmines and unexploded remnants of war, allowing displaced families to return. Years of war with ISIS have left the ground and buildings of Iraq saturated with explosive hazards. Until this complex work is complete, reconstruction ...

  • The European Union continues to support explosive hazard management and capacity enhancement activities in liberated areas of Iraq

    December 18, 2018

    The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) thanks the European Union for its continuous support to explosive hazard management and capacity enhancement activities in liberated areas of Iraq, which contributes to the safe, orderly and dignified return of displaced communities and enables humanitarian and stabilization efforts. Across liberated areas, explosive hazard contamination prevents access for humanitarian ...

  • Homemade bombs, shootings at southern Iraq oil fields

    December 7, 2018

    Local disputes following field protests raise tension in Iraq’s key oil provinces. Improvised explosive devices (IED) were found in the vicinity of two oil fields in southern Iraq this week, a discovery that occurred in conjunction with a shooting at another oil field as well as renewed protests over a lack of jobs and services. On Thursday, ...

  • Mission Iraq: Britain’s Quest To Train An Army To Fight Islamic State

    November 27, 2018

    It was once a secret base for Saddam Hussein’s personal army but now Camp Taji hosts 400 members of the 1st Battalion, The Grenadier Guards as they train the Iraqi Army. Lieutenant Colonel Piers Ashfield, Commanding Officer of The Grenadiers, said British troops have been providing “expertise” training. “I think the key thing about British training has been the expertise it ...