Kurdistan Region records nearly 30 landmine victims in 2025
Shafaq News– Erbil
Landmine explosions killed or injured 29 people across Iraqi Kurdistan in 2025, local authorities revealed on Thursday, marking a sharp increase in casualties compared with the previous year.
Speaking at a press conference in Erbil, Jabar Mustafa, head of the Mine Action Agency, detailed 18 separate explosions recorded in different areas of the Region last year, attributing most incidents to mines and explosive remnants planted by the former Iraqi army during the Iran–Iraq war of the 1980s. He reported 12 fatalities and 17 injuries, compared with four deaths and seven injuries documented in 2024.
Demining teams also cleared 53 minefields over the past year and removed and destroyed 2,997 anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines, with education campaigns and safety guidance reaching more than one million people across the Region.
Since 2003, Iraq has identified more than 6,600 square kilometers contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants of war, clearing about 4,540 square kilometers, while over 2,000 square kilometers remain hazardous and require demining.
