1980s-era ordnance explosion injures worker in Duhok

Shafaq News- Duhok

A worker suffered minor injuries after an unexploded ordnance dating back to the 1980s detonated at a quarry in Duhok, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the province's Mine Affairs Directorate told Shafaq News on Tuesday.

Riker Besfki, the directorate's media officer, said specialist teams responded after receiving a report about a suspicious object at the quarry, where they found three pieces of old military ordnance. They determined that one of the buried artillery shells exploded after the worker unknowingly struck it and attempted to move it by hand.

Specialist teams removed the remaining two shells and transferred them to a secure location for safe disposal.

According to official figures, authorities in Duhok destroyed more than 608 landmines and explosive remnants of war collected across the province since the start of 2026.

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