Landmine kills herb forager in Sidakan, fifth such death in a month

ERBIL — A man was killed Tuesday morning when a landmine exploded while he was collecting spring herbs in the Qalaresh mountains near Sidakan, Erbil governorate, marking the fifth such fatal incident in less than a month.

Karwan Mirawdeli, head of civil defense in Soran, identified the victim as Nazim Salih Rasho, a resident of Sidakan.

“He went to collect wild spring herbs, but the landmine explosion claimed his life,” Mirawdeli told 964media. The blast occurred at 9:50 a.m., and civil defense teams transported the body to the forensic medicine department, he said.

Mirawdeli attributed the increase in such incidents to a lack of adherence to safety guidelines. “The cause of the increase in such incidents is the disregard of the instructions by the citizens,” he said.

The Kurdistan Region has recorded five landmine-related deaths among herb foragers in recent weeks.

On March 25, Hawkar Salih, a Peshmerga soldier from Said Sadiq, was killed in a blast near Siyamawa village in Penjwen district, Sulaymaniyah governorate. On March 17, 20-year-old Dilshad Mahmood died in a mine explosion while foraging in Korramew, also in Penjwen.

Earlier in March, a 58-year-old man was killed while gathering herbs in the Rola mountains near Dargala village in Erbil’s Rawanduz district. Another fatality occurred near Qaladze in Sulaymaniyah.