Incendiary bomb found in Kurdistan Region’s Choman district

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An aircraft bomb was found in the garden of one of the residents of the Haji Omaran sub-district of Choman district in Erbil province, according to a statement from the General Directorate of the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (MAA).

The type of the bomb was ZAB100. It was later detonated by the MAA team in Bardabuk mountain of Galala sub-district. 

The ZAB100 (Zazhygatelnaya Aviatsionnaya Bomba, or ‘incendiary aircraft bomb’) is a Soviet incendiary weapon first manufactured in 1959. The bomb has often been incorrectly referred to as a napalm explosive, however, it is actually composed of a mixture of thermite and a binding agent. The weapon was extensively used by the forces of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. It has also seen usage in the Syrian Civil War.

When ignited, thermite can reach a temperature of 2,400°C (4,400°F), much higher than that of napalm at 800 to 1,200°C (1,500–2,200°F).

Meanwhile, five other explosives and landmines were found at the same site.

There are an estimated 314 square kilometers of land that still contain landmines in the Kurdistan Region, the MAA announced on April 4, 2022.

Many landmines in the Kurdistan Region are located on the Iranian border. These landmines are a relic of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, as the Iraqi army targeted Kurdish areas to prevent rebels from collaborating with Iran. 35 years after the war ended, approximately half of those landmines still remain.

With landmines populating 650 square kilometers of land, Iraq has the most landmines of any country in the world, according to the international Landmine Monitor. Of those 650 square kilometers, nearly half are located in the Kurdistan Region.

Read More: Over 13,000 people have been killed or injured by landmines in Kurdistan Region: Mine Action Agency