Three children killed by landmine explosion in Abu Al-Khaseeb while playing soccer

BASRA — Three children from Kut Al-Zain Primary School were killed on Friday when a landmine exploded while they were playing soccer near the Zaid bin Suhan shrine in the Kut Al-Fadagh area of Abu Al-Khaseeb district, a security source in Basra said.

“The landmine exploded on three children from Kut Al-Zain Primary School while they were playing soccer near the Zaid bin Suhan shrine in the Kut Al-Fadagh area of Abu Al-Khaseeb district, causing their immediate death,” the source said.

The Abu Al-Khaseeb Education Directorate issued a statement mourning the tragic loss, saying, “with deep sorrow and grief, the Abu Al-Khaseeb Education Directorate mourns the three students from Kut Al-Zain Primary School, who passed away due to a tragic incident.”

Landmines continue to pose a deadly risk across Iraq, particularly in regions that saw heavy fighting in past conflicts. Decades after the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf War, the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and the ISIS war, large portions of the country remain contaminated with unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices, endangering civilians in both urban and rural areas.

On Feb. 8, 2025, a landmine explosion in the Rumaila area, north of the Zubair district in Basra, killed a young man and his sister and injured four other family members. By the end of 2022, nearly 35,000 Iraqis had been killed or injured by landmines, unexploded ordnance, and improvised explosive devices, according to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor.

Iraq’s Ministry of Environment announced on Nov. 11, 2024, that it had cleared 4,000 square kilometers of land contaminated with mines and plans to achieve complete demining by 2028.