1991 Gulf War landmine injures three Iraqi oil workers

Shafaq News- Al-Muthanna

Three oil exploration workers were injured on Sunday when a landmine left over from the 1991 Gulf War exploded in the Basyah desert in Iraq’s southern Al-Muthanna province, a security source told Shafaq News.

The workers are members of the Third Seismic Team, which conducts oil exploration in the area. The blast also damaged the Renault vehicle they were traveling in.

Exploration work was suspended while the region was checked for remnants of war and assessed for safety before operations could resume.

Al-Muthanna remains among Iraq’s most heavily affected provinces in terms of mine victims, with more than 4,000 deaths, injuries, and disabilities recorded since 1991, Ahmed Hamdan Al-Jashami, head of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Association told Shafaq News in April.

Read more: Spoiled by the coil: Iraq's mines battles take their toll