Shafaq News

Heavy rains and flash floods are bringing an old danger back to the surface across Iraq: landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) long buried under soil that many communities had come to treat as “safe.” From southern Kirkuk and the outskirts of Tuz Khurmatu’s Amerli district in Saladin to the Iraqi-Iranian border belt in Wasit, residents and officials say torrents have shifted terrain, stripped away topsoil, and exposed explosive remnants linked both to the Iran-Iraq War and to battles against ISIS.

A source in the Civil Defense Directorate told Shafaq News that the recent torrents revealed explosive materials that had been hidden, adding that security forces “stepped up measures to cordon off dangerous areas, secure them, and prevent human incidents, with particular focus on the Iraqi-Iranian border in Wasit—especially Badra and Jassan.

International mine-action actors describe the landmine situation as a national, long-term contamination challenge. UNMAS states that Iraq remains among the world’s most explosive-ordnance-contaminated countries, with approximately 2,733 km² of recorded contaminated areas—a scale that makes sudden environmental changes, such as erosion and flooding, a significant risk multiplier.

When Water Reshapes “Known” Ground

Floods do not create mines, but they can change how mines behave in a landscape. Water flow can erode banks and fields, displace soil layers, and carry debris that conceals or relocates hazardous items. In practice, this means two things for communities: Marked or familiar routes may no longer be reliable after the land shifts, and objects that were stable while buried can become unstable when exposed, raising the chance of accidental detonation through minor contact, farming tools, or vehicle movement.

In southern Kirkuk, resident Mohammad Khaled described that sudden uncertainty in stark terms: “The land changed after the torrents, and we no longer know where the dangerous areas are. People started avoiding passing through for fear of explosions.”

In Saladin, farmer Abbas Ali—from the outskirts of Amerli—pushed back against the idea that the threat is limited to areas once held by ISIS. “The danger also includes areas that were contact lines or old military sites. The torrents changed the features of the land and increased the likelihood of explosive materials appearing.”

Along the Iraqi-Iranian border, Jamil al-Badri, a notable from the Badra-Jassan area in Wasit, said the anxiety runs even deeper because the geography itself is layered with old frontlines. These lands, according to him, witnessed battles and old military buildups during the Iran-Iraq War. He told Shafaq News that this had left thousands of mines and unexploded ordnance. “Some residents noticed soil erosion near shepherd and farmer routes, which increases the risk of mines appearing.”

Read more: Iraq's mines battles take their toll

Why This Is Not Just A “Legacy” Issue

Iraq’s contamination is a cumulative result of decades: the Iran-Iraq War, the 1991 conflict and its aftermath, post-2003 violence, and the anti-ISIS campaigns—plus the widespread use of improvised explosive devices in certain periods and areas.

The ICRC has warned that landmines and explosive remnants continue to cast a long shadow over recovery, citing large-scale contamination estimates and the way explosive hazards constrain farming, reconstruction, and safe returns.

UNMAS and UNICEF, focusing on children’s exposure, have also highlighted a sustained harm pattern, reporting at least 314 children killed or injured by explosive ordnance over the past five years, based on UN official reports.

For now, Iraq still records casualties annually, reflecting how contamination persists even outside headline cycles.

The key point for flood-affected districts is that climate-driven shocks can reactivate risk in places that were partially cleared or informally assumed safe—precisely because terrain is not static.

“Reassessment” Becomes The Frontline Policy

Former Civil Defense officer and explosives expert Ahmed al-Jubouri framed the floods as a turning point that requires immediate operational changes, not only warnings. “Materials often remain stable as long as they stay buried,” al-Jubouri told Shafaq News. “But soil movement and water make them exposed and unstable, increasing the likelihood of explosion with the slightest contact.” He added that some areas classified as partially cleared may return to posing a real danger after climate changes.

Al-Jubouri called for a fresh field survey, especially in Kirkuk, Saladin, and border areas of Wasit, alongside intensified public awareness campaigns urging residents not to approach or tamper with suspicious objects. His prescription matches a core principle in international explosive-ordnance risk education: do not touch, mark the location if possible from a safe distance, and report through official channels—guidance reflected in mine-action risk education materials and standards used globally.

The Operational Bottlenecks

Security sources told Shafaq News that demining teams face structural obstacles: missing or inaccurate contamination maps, hard-to-reach rural areas and rough terrain, limited resources, and uneven coordination between local and federal bodies.

Those bottlenecks are not unique to Iraq, but Iraq’s scale makes them harder to “patch” during emergencies. UNMAS emphasizes institutional sustainability and standards-based coordination, including work linked to national mine action standards discussions and the broader push to professionalize operations across agencies and partners.

A Civil Defense source in Wasit told Shafaq News that relevant authorities intensified measures on the ground after the recent torrents, coordinating with demining teams and international organizations to secure civilians and protect roads and farmlands. The source stressed that risks remain a real threat to residents and shepherds—especially after erosion changes the terrain.

International agencies increasingly frame this as a recovery-and-development issue, not just a security file. UNDP, for example, treats mine action as a prerequisite for stabilization and service restoration in liberated and affected areas, linking clearance and coordination to broader reconstruction needs.

Agriculture, Returns, And The “Silent” Economic Cost

In Kirkuk and Saladin, the immediate fear centers on daily movement—children walking to school, farmers entering fields, shepherds using seasonal routes. But the second-order effects can last longer: Agricultural slowdowns as farmers avoid plowing or expanding cultivation in uncertain zones.

This is where floods become strategically significant: they compress risk into a shorter timeframe and expand the map of uncertainty, which can stall local economies even without a single incident.

What “Smart Response” Looks Like After Waters Recede

Local voices, interviewed by Shafaq News, converge on one demand: faster surveying, clearer warning signage, stronger public reporting channels, and sustained official-international cooperation.

In practical terms, the post-flood phase needs three tracks running in parallel:

-Rapid reassessment and re-marking of priority zones (farms, schools, roads, grazing paths).

-Community reporting networks that treat residents as early-warning partners—without pushing them toward risky “verification.”

-A funding-and-coordination surge that prevents emergency cordons from becoming a permanent substitute for clearance.

As Iraq experiences more frequent climate extremes—heavy rains, sudden torrents, seasonal erosion—the mine threat is increasingly a governance test: whether state institutions and their partners can keep pace with a landscape that changes faster than clearance plans.

Written and edited by Shafaq News staff.