In 3 days Peshmerga defused 280 IEDs in 11 liberated villages

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Within three days, Peshmerga engineering team defused over 280 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in 11 newly-liberated villages, but the engineering team needs weeks to clear the entire area, said a Peshmerga commander.

On August 14, Peshmerga forces with the support of the US-led coalition warplanes liberated 11 villages from IS in less than two days.

The offensive killed about 130 jihadists.

Mahmoud Kakayi, Peshmerga Commander of the engineering team, belonging to the First Peshmerga Backup Forces, told Kurdistan24 that in the first day of the Peshmerga offensive, their engineering team was in the forefront to defuse IEDs and demine roads for Peshmerga soldiers.

“In the first day, our engineering team defused 50 IEDs. In the second day, we defused 180 IEDs with two IED stores and underground tunnels that belonged to IS. In the third day, the team defused many other bombs including the ones that were wired to Gwer Bridge,” Kakayi said.

So far the engineering team has defused about 280 IEDs that were planted by the jihadist group to target Peshmerga forces.

Kakayi noted that the number of the defused IEDs mentioned above does not include the accomplishments of Zeravani engineering team that contributed to clearing the area.

“Those who work in the engineering team can only make a mistake once because the first mistake ends their life,” Kakayi emphasized.

Additionally, he stated that they will call for help from Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA) to help them in clearing those villages, stating that they need to completely clear the 11 villages from IS explosive devices.

Editing by Ava Homa