ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A landmine explosion in an Erbil town on the border between the Kurdistan Region and Iran claimed the life of a 65-year-old shepherd on Sunday.

Mamand Hamadamin was herding his sheep along the mountainous areas of Haji Omaran before stepping on a landmine which exploded and immediately took his life. He had fallen victim to the area’s mines in the past as well, losing one of his legs in the incident.

Rabar Anwar, media head for the Mine Action Agency’s branch in Erbil, told Rudaw that the body will be sent for examination at the Soran forensics department.

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region suffer from large numbers of landmines that remain scattered across the country to this day due to the Iran-Iraq war, the 1991 Gulf War, the 2003 invasion by the US-led coalition, and the occupation of the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014.

A vast area scattered with landmines needs to be cleared, otherwise it will continue to claim lives and leave civilians with long-term disabilities if not thoroughly cleaned.

The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in April 2022 that over 519 children had been killed or injured in Iraq in the previous five years from explosive ordnance, adding that landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) remain one of the leading threats to children in the country.

There are around 3,000 minefields in the Kurdistan Region. Around 2,700 people have been killed by landmines and 10,800 others wounded or maimed since the 1990s, according to the Mine Action Agency.