Iraq clears hundreds of square kilometers of landmines for energy, infrastructure projects

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Ministry of Environment has completed survey and clearance operations across hundreds of square kilometers in southern governorates, releasing land for a series of strategic energy, infrastructure and housing projects, the ministry announced Wednesday.

Administrative Deputy Minister Iktaa Muzhir al-Hassnawi said cleared sites include the Nibras petrochemicals project in Basra, covering around 13 square kilometers, which was “fully cleared through purely national efforts, without burdening the state with substantial financial costs,” before being handed over to the Ministry of Industry and Minerals. A further 22 square kilometers in Basra were cleared for French company TotalEnergies to build a 1,000 MW solar power plant.

Nibras Fakher Matrood, director of the Southern Regional Center, said the center supervised clearance of around 295 kilometers along the Gulf electrical interconnection project route, as well as work near the Zubair, Rumaila and West Qurna oil fields and the Faihaa field.

Other cleared areas include a 36-kilometer segment of the Basra-Shalamcheh railway, expected to be finalized next month, and a 5.3-kilometer route for an Africa/2 submarine fiber-optic cable for the Ministry of Communications. Around 15 square kilometers of agricultural land were cleared based on citizen requests, 34 square kilometers for agricultural and livestock investment, and around 50 square kilometers for housing distribution to state employees across southern governorates.

More than 14 square kilometers were cleared for the Khidr and Duraiji water project, and more than 8 square kilometers for the Nasiriyah International Airport project.

The center also conducted awareness campaigns on unexploded ordnance risks reaching more than 100,000 beneficiaries over three years, and trained around 120 personnel annually from the Ministries of Education and Youth and Sports.