200+ landmines destroyed in Mergasur district

With landmines populating 650 million square meters of land, Iraq has the most landmines of any country in the world.

Kurdistan 24 2023/11/08 20:52

Some of the landmines defused by the Mine Action Agency in cooperation with the Slovenia-based Enhancing Human Security (ITF). (Photo: KRG Mine Action Agency)

Kurdistan Landmines Mine Action Agency Mergasor

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Mine Action Agency announced in a statement on Wednesday that 202 Valmara-69 landmines were destroyed in the Sherokian village of Mergasor district.

The mines were cleared in cooperation with the Slovenia-based Enhancing Human Security (ITF) non-profit organization.

Niazi Khalid, Deputy Head of the Mine Agency, told Kurdistan 24 that about 260 square kilometers remain to be cleared of mines in the Kurdistan Region, and clearance requires a large amount of funding due to the safety risks of the process.

He added that the agency has been able to clear 60% of the minefields in the Kurdistan Region.

Khalid also added that the Ninth Cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has provided the best support to this agency, and most of the requests for the agency have been approved by the government.

Established in the spring of 1998 in Slovenia, the ITF’s objective is to enhance safety in post-conflict areas, and at the time, the focus was on the Balkan peninsula that was reeling from the violent breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

Earlier in August, the KRG had asserted that it has consistently supported victims of landmines and other explosives. Over 54,000 victims received this multifaceted support between 2019 and 2023.

The landmines in Mergasor have disputed accountability, although it is believed both the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish Armed Forces have been exhibited mining areas near the Turkish border.

Moreover, many landmines in the Kurdistan Region are located near the Iranian border. These landmines are a relic of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, as the Iraqi Army heavily mined Kurdish areas to prevent Kurdish rebels from collaborating with Iran. Approximately half of those landmines still remain 35 years after the conclusion of the war.

With landmines populating 650 million square meters of land, Iraq has the most landmines of any country in the world, according to the Landmine Monitor. Of the 650 million square meters, nearly half (314 million) are in the Kurdistan Region.