UXO explosion kills nine-year-old girl in Iraq’s Dhi Qar
Shafaq News- Dhi Qar
A nine-year-old girl was killed when an unexploded ordnance detonated in the desert area of al-Jleiba in the Suq al-Shuyukh district of Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq, a security source told Shafaq News on Thursday.
The girl belonged to a nomadic family living in the area. No further details were immediately available about the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Landmines and unexploded ordnance continue to pose a serious threat in Iraq, with the Strategic Center for Human Rights in Iraq estimating more than 6,600 square kilometers of land contaminated since 2003 and over 30,000 people killed or injured nationwide. Decades of wars and the fight against ISIS have left explosive remnants that are often re-exposed by heavy rains, flooding, and soil erosion.
Read more: Spoiled by the coil: Iraq's mines battles take their toll
