IS booby-traps have killed 131 Kurdish employees: IKMAA

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA) on Sunday released a statement revealing the number of employees who died due to Islamic State (IS) booby-traps since the emergence of the group in June 2014.

IKMAA is one of the main agencies led by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) responsible for mine clearing affairs in the Region.

In a statement, the agency said, since the emergence of IS in northern Iraq, they had lost 131 employees from IKMAA and other organizations who work with the agency while defusing Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

IKMAA stated the emergence of the group in northern Iraq had made the agency’s work much more challenging than before as IS planted booby-traps in different villages and towns in the area.

Previously, IKMAA was only responsible for clearing mines planted on the Kurdistan Region borders by the former Iraqi dictatorship where hundreds of thousands of mines are still left to be cleared.

The agency mentioned the financial crisis and IS war had left a heavy load on the shoulders of IKMAA.

Nonetheless, the employees and Peshmerga engineering teams have cleared large swaths of territory from IS booby-traps.

The death casualties released by the IKMAA did not include members of the Peshmerga engineering team who have been at the forefront of the Kurdish forces’ offensives.

However, there is still cooperation between both sides in clearing bombs planted by the insurgents.

The military commanders of Peshmerga and Iraqi security forces have repeatedly stated IS booby-traps are one of the main issues that slows down the advance of the security forces.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany