ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq's defence ministry has removed potentially explosive materials from a Baghdad International Airport warehouse, a military spokesperson announced on Sunday, following last week's deadly blast in Beirut. Movement of the unspecified cargo comes with the formation of a committee by Iraq's premier and commander-in-chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi to investigate and track “high-risk materials” held in the country, said Kadhimi's spokesperson Yehia Rasool. “The Military Engineering Directorate of Iraqi defence ministry…safely transported highly dangerous materials from the air cargo section at Baghdad Airport…to its destination, the warehouses of the Military Engineering Directorate,” Rasool tweeted. Transport of the materials was done “under the guidance of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to form an urgent committee to detect high-risk materials (chemical, dual-use materials, and ammonia nitrate) at all border crossings (land, sea, and air)," he said in a subsequent tweet. A devastating twin explosion rocked the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, killing at least 158 and wounding 6,000, according to health ministry figures. The number of fatalities is expected to rise as bodies continue to be recovered from the rubble. President Michel Aoun attributed the blast to 2,750 tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate that had been left stored at the city's port since 2013, prompting a wave of mass protests and the public's storming of several ministry buildings. Iraq too has witnessed explosions at sites holding explosive materials in populated areas, with a blast at a weapons depot at Al-Saqr military base in Baghdad’s Dora neighborhood killing one civilian and injuring 29 more last year. Fearing the same fate as Beirut, Iraqis have been taking to the streets and to social media this past week to demand removal of explosive materials from city neighbourhoods. On Friday, Iraq's transport ministry granted port authorities in the southern city of Basra 72 hours to inspect all of Basra province’s ports, and remove all chemical, radioactive or combustible materials stored in their warehouses.
