France contributes over $500K for removal of IEDs left by Islamic State in Iraq

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Government of France has dedicated USD 590,000 to the removal of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and landmines left over by the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Iraq.

“The presence of explosive hazards, including [IEDs] in areas liberated from [IS in Iraq], will continue to impede security and stability efforts until they are cleared and rendered safe,” the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said in a statement on Wednesday.

Since IS’ 2014 emergence in Iraq and neighboring Syria, the Kurdistan Region has provided a haven for nearly two million displaced persons fleeing the extremist group.

A January 2018 survey by REACH/CCCM Cluster, which assesses the situation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, found that 21 percent of those displaced do not plan to return to their homes “because of the presence of explosive hazards and IEDs.”

UNMAS said it would use France’s financial contribution to “increase capacity to conduct survey and clearance” of areas liberated from IS including Kirkuk, Anbar, Nineveh, Salahuddin, and Diyala provinces.

It will also provide “risk education” to those persons living in and returning to the liberated areas which are suspected to be contaminated with explosives.

The organization’s Senior Programme Manager, Pehr Lodhammar, said the funds would “contribute to the safe and dignified return of displaced communities.”

Since beginning its work in November 2016, UNMAS has removed over 45,000 explosive hazards including 748 IEDs since January 2017.

In addition to thousands of IS-planted bombs, several landmine fields remain active on the Kurdistan Region’s border with Iran, there since the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s.