Iraq is among mine-contaminated countries in the world, senior official says

Shafaq News/ Iraq is listed among the countries most contaminated by landmines in the world, Iraq's acting Minister of Environment Jasem al-Falahi said on Tuesday, citing the huge budget the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has allocated to combat this phenomenon.

Scattered across almost every corner of Iraq are millions of landmines and unexploded ordnance, buried in the farms, roads, and fields.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines classifies Iraq as the world's most contaminated country with mines.

Every year, dozens of Iraqis lose their lives due to explosion of mines and military debris; while about 8.5 million out of 41 million Iraqis live under this threat, UN Mine Action Service data shows.

Various conflicts have devastated the nation since the early 1980s, each adding to the extent and density of its mine pollution. The 1980s Iran-Iraq War, Saddam Hussein's war against the Iraqi Kurds, the 1991 Gulf War, and the 2003 US-led invasion left behind vast minefields and unexploded cluster munitions.

Most recent was ISIS's pervasive, industrial-scale use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and many inactivated mortar and artillery ammunition remain amid the rubble from clashes between the insurgent group and Iraqi government forces.

"Mine clearance program in Iraq emerged as a cooperation between the Environment Ministry, the Landmines Foundation in the Kurdistan Region, and the United Nations," he said, "Iraq is among the most mine-polluted countries in the world. Vast areas are still contaminated by landmines from the Iraqi-Iranian war era."

"More than 6,000 kilometers from the areas liberated from ISIS are contaminated by landmines and explosives," al-Falahi added.

"The efforts of the Ministry requires international support...Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi believes that special budgets shall be allocated for landmines programs."