Landmine blast costs shepherd his leg in Soran

SORAN — A young man lost a leg in a landmine explosion on Tuesday while tending sheep in the Soran Autonomous Administration in Erbil governorate, local health and mine-action officials said.

The man stepped on the mine in the Bradost area and was taken to Soran’s Ashti Hospital, where he underwent surgery and is being treated, a hospital source told 964media. Rabar Anwar, media head of the Erbil Mine Action Agency, confirmed he had lost one leg.

Anwar said seven people had been injured by landmines in the Soran area since the start of the year, one of them fatally.

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

The region’s Mine Action Agency has cleared most of the known contaminated land, with efforts ongoing to clear remaining minefields.