Shafaq News/ Iraq's Ministries of Planning and Environment have reached an agreement on a strategy to decontaminate unexploded ordnance and declare Iraq free of landmines by 2028, an official statement said on Monday.

The Undersecretary of the Planning Ministry, Maher Hamad Johan, reiterated the government's commitment to the success of the project, given its vitality "for combating pollution, mitigating climate change, and enabling safe development across Iraq." 

he assured that the Ministry of Finance is on also on board to secure the necessary funding for the initiative.

For his part, Minister of Environment Environment Nizar Amidi laid emphasis on the urgency of the task, noting that an estimated 6,000 square kilometers of Iraqi land are currently contaminated with mines.

He acknowledged ongoing national demining efforts but said major challenges impede their progress. The Minister called for mustering "international support" to aid mine clearance operations in a bid to announce Iraq a decontaminated country by 2028.

Iraq is the world's most contaminated country with landmines, partly due to the mines laid by ISIS terrorists to defend the territory it once controlled over Iraq and Syria, according to Reuters. Iraq was already heavily contaminated as a result of the 2003 invasion by the US-led coalition, the 1991 Gulf War, and the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq war.