Shwan Jamal, 29, from Choman, was collecting wild vegetables in the mountains when a mine exploded and he was killed, Rabar Anwar, head of Erbil’s Mine Action Agency’s media office told Rudaw’s Bakhtyar Qadir on Sunday.
This is the second mine accident in the Choman area in less than a month. Abdulwahab Mahmoud, 38, was injured in late April while picking spring vegetables.
Kurdistan Region’s border areas are littered with landmines, a legacy of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. The Mine Action Agency estimates there are about 3,000 minefields and at least 13,456 people have been killed and injured by the munitions since 1991.
Erbil province “is around 65% demined,” Anwar told Rudaw English on Sunday.
So far this year, six people have been struck by the mines, two fatally, he said. “When it’s the season for spring vegetables, people risk their lives. Most of the people who become victims are those who know the area,” Anwar said. Areas with landmines are all marked.
Roads, inhabited areas, and agricultural lands are the priority for demining efforts. “Until those places are done we can’t clear the mountains,” said Anwar.
“I am asking the people through Rudaw, please don’t go to places you don’t know well while picking vegetables,” said Anwar. Teams from their agency are ready to offer help and guidance to people wanting to visit areas where there may be landmines.
Last year, at least 18 people were killed and injured by landmines.
