ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two individuals died and seven others were injured as a result of mine explosions over the past six months, the Kurdistan Region's mine action agency said on Monday, adding that thousands of pieces of unexploded ordnance have been removed during this period.
"Of the two who died, one was in Sulaimani province and the other was in Erbil province," Jabbar Mustafa, the head of the agency, told Rudaw's Solin Mohammed.
He added that 26,583 pieces of various unexploded ordnance (UXOs) and 437 anti-tank landmines were removed during the period.
He noted that the injuries and disabilities affecting each person varied from case to case.
Mustafa noted that they managed to clear 200,000 square meters of land from mines in 2026, consisting of two minefields and three battlefields.
Thousands of landmines, typically anti-tank and anti-personnel, are buried across the Kurdistan Region. Most were planted by the deposed Ba'athist regime in the 1970s and 1980s in rugged mountain areas to target Peshmerga forces.
UXOs from the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran, as well as the Kurdish civil war (1994-1997), are also scattered across the Region.
Mine explosions continue to claim lives and maim people every year, with cumulative casualties since the establishment of the Kurdistan Regional Government in 1992 exceeding 13,000, including around 5,000 deaths.
The head of the mine action agency also explained that since the early 1990s they have cleared about 563 square kilometers of land.
Last year, 34 people fell victim to landmines in the Kurdistan Region, 12 of whom lost their lives.
