PHOTOS: 500+ mines belonging to Saddam’s regime destroyed in Erbil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Directorate General of the Erbil Mine Action Center (EMAC) announced on Tuesday over 500 defused mines planted by the former Iraqi dictatorship were destroyed.

The announcement mentioned the mines were destroyed in a valley located in the town of Choman in Erbil Province.

Additionally, the EMAC report revealed the mines dated back to the 1980s during the war with Iraq and Iran where the Iraqi regime planted thousands of mines on the border to hinder the advance of Iranian troops.

The eight-year war between Iraq and Iran began in September 1980 and continued until August 1988.

After 1991, many local and international organizations from mine sectors contributed in clearing the Iraq-Iran border from explosives.

However, large swaths of territory are still dangerous as they have not been cleaned yet.

There are an estimated 314 million square meters (121 square miles) of contaminated land across the Kurdistan Region.

“The landmines in the Kurdistan Region were planted decades ago,” environmental activist Rafiq Karim Sturni previously told Kurdistan24.

“They are outdated and may detonate at any time,” he continued.

“Landmines in the Region don’t need someone to engage them before they explode; they might explode randomly and unexpectedly due to the increasing heat in Kurdistan,” Sturni explained.

The Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA) previously announced 1.8 million square meters of territory in the Kurdistan Region had been cleared of mines in 2015.

During the first four months of 2016, IKMAA announced six casualties as a result of mine-clearing where two people died, and the rest were critically injured.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany