Explosive kills two Iraqis working for demining organization near Basra

"The incident occurred in the early morning at the site managed by Al Khebra Al Fania."

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/10/24 18:30

Clearance operation on a massive IED belt in Tal Kaif, north of Mosul, August 2021 (Photo: UNMAS Iraq)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Two Iraqi members of a team working for a United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) implementing partner were killed and a third was injured in an incident at an explosive ordnance clearance site at Shatt al-Arab near Basra in southern Iraq on Monday.

"The incident occurred in the early morning at the site managed by Al Khebra Al Fania (AKAF), which is one of UNMAS Iraq’s implementing partners. The injured person was reported to be in stable condition in hospital," UNMAS said in press release.

UNMAS said it is "working closely with the Iraqi Directorate for Mine Action to investigate and review the incident to understand if any conditions can be addressed and precautions implemented to reduce the risk of such incidents in the future."

AKAF has been a partner of UNMAS for the last two years and cleared hundreds of items of explosive ordnance in the Shatt al-Arab area, UNMAS said.

"The clearance operations are essential for the safety of impacted communities and safe access to land for agricultural activities and development," UNMAS concluded.

In July, the United Nations on Wednesday called for an investigation after an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Mosul province injured seven members of a UNMAS supported demining team in Tel Kaif, northeast of Mosul.