Mine Action Agency announces major clearance operations in Duhok and Erbil

ERBIL — The Kurdistan Region’s Mine Action Agency has cleared nearly 20,000 square meters of land in Duhok governorate and destroyed more than 5,000 items of unexploded ordnance in Erbil governorate in two separate operations.

A demining team from the agency’s Duhok office, assisted by a mechanical unit, cleared a minefield in the village of Syare in the Chamanke subdistrict of Amedi district, covering 19,675 square meters and recovering 50 mines.

In a separate operation, the agency’s Erbil office carried out a mass destruction of 5,169 mines and unexploded ordnance items on Mount Bardabok in the Galala subdistrict of Choman district. The items had previously been collected by specialized teams and transported to the destruction site.

The Kurdistan Region remains heavily contaminated by landmines, a legacy of the Iran-Iraq War, Kurdish-Baathist conflicts and later instability, with unexploded ordnance continuing to endanger rural communities and livelihoods.