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


Related:

  • Civilian killed in IED blast in western Baghdad

    August 6, 2017

    A civilian was killed as an IED blast took place in western Baghdad, a police source said on Sunday. “A bomb placed under a civilian’s vehicle exploded on Sunday evening while passing at al-Hayakel region in al-Ghazaliya district, causing the driver’s immediate death,” the source told AlSumaria News. Security troops, according to the source, who asked to ...

  • Islamic State Shifting to IED Attacks as It Loses Ground

    August 3, 2017

    U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the international coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) said Thursday that as the terrorist group loses territory, it will shift to asymmetric warfare tactics in Iraq and Syria. He said at a Pentagon briefing: As we continue to, through our partners, take away ISIS territory and not allow them ...

  • Booby-traps plague north Iraq as Islamic State targets returning civilians

    July 26, 2017

    As people return home to Mosul and other areas of northern Iraq freed from Islamic State, homemade bombs and explosives laid on an industrial scale by the insurgents are claiming hundreds of victims and hampering efforts to bring life back to normal. Houses, schools, mosques and streets are all booby-trapped, a big problem in West Mosul ...

  • ISIS chemical weapons expert killed in Hawija district

    July 14, 2017

    ISIS chemical weapons senior expert Abu al-Baraa has been killed by unknown gunmen in Hawija district in Kirkuk Governorate, a military source said Friday. Earlier, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS leader, had transferred him to Syria and no one knows how he returned to Hawija district, the source added. ISIS terrorists were developing the chemical weapons in the labs ...