Civilian loses limb in landmine blast in Penjwen ​

Layal Shakir

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A civilian lost a limb in a landmine blast in a mountainous area in eastern Sulaimani on Sunday, an official told Rudaw, increasing the toll of victims affected by the explosive device across the Kurdistan Region.

In his mid-thirties, Jutiar Bahaadin lost a leg in a mine explosion in Penjwen district earlier in the morning, Aram Jalal, spokesperson for the Region’s Mine Action Agency told Rudaw.

The mine exploded in the district’s Kuna Wrch village, Jalal added without disclosing further details regarding the incident.

Penjwen is located on the Kurdistan Region’s border with Iran, an area dotted with unexploded landmines and explosive ordinances dating back to more than three decades of the devastating Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988.

Mines have killed and injured about 13,500 people from across the Region to this day, the mine agency said on International Mine Awareness Day last week. 

There are around 3,000 minefields in the Kurdistan Region, with the Mine Action Agency claiming the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cannot remove all the landmines alone as it is a prohibitively expensive process.

An area of about 255-meter squares scattered with landmines needs to be cleared, otherwise it will continue to claim lives and leave civilians with long-term disabilities if not thoroughly cleaned. 

The Kurdish government last year stopped the work of demining organizations due to a lack of funds. 

Iraq also suffers from large numbers of landmines that remain scattered across the country to this day due to the aforementioned war, the 1991 Gulf War, the 2003 invasion by the US-led coalition, and the occupation of the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014.

The country is contaminated by a large number of mines and other explosive devices (IEDs) deliberately left behind by the terror group.

An estimated 8.5 million Iraqis are vulnerable to the risk of landmines and IEDs, according to a report published by ACAPS, which performs independent analysis on humanitarian needs, last year. 

Two United Nations bodies on Monday called for action to be taken toward an Iraq free of mines and explosive ordinances as more than 500 children were either killed or injured in the country over the last five years.