ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two separate mine explosions in Sulaimani province on Sunday injured a shepherd and killed 25 sheep and goats, after one mine detonated among a flock in the Sangasar sub-district of Pishdar district while another exploded near a shepherd in the village of Mergapan, the Kurdistan Region’s Mine Action Agency (IKMAA) said.
"In the village of Mergapan within the borders of Sulaimani province, a mine was displaced by floods and heavy rain, washing down and exploding near a shepherd, leaving him injured," Jabar Mustafa, head of the IKMAA told Rudaw on Sunday.
Mustafa added that in a separate incident, at around 5 pm on Sunday, a flock of sheep and goats entered a minefield in Girtik village in the Sangasar sub-district, triggering an explosion. He added that 25 animals were killed in the incident, "but the shepherd is safe and sustained no injuries."
Jegr, the shepherd, told Rudaw that this was far from an isolated incident. "It isn’t the first, second, or even the third time our livestock have been killed by mines," he said, explaining that his goats had wandered into a minefield. "I went to bring them back, and while I was doing so, a mine exploded among them."
He added that the blast killed 25 animals and injured five others. “Some were pregnant, and others had young kids,” he noted.
"This area contains remnants of mines from the Ba'ath regime. Our people and our animals have been hit by mines here many times. We have had people martyred (killed) and many others injured," he added.
Arsalan, the village chieftain, told Rudaw that landmines have claimed multiple lives in Girtk. "Two people have so far lost their lives to mines, and seven others have been injured," he said.
"Mines explode in places where you would never expect them to be. Although the area is marked, it has good grazing land, and the moment a shepherd is distracted, disaster can strike before the animals can be brought back under control," he added.
Arsalan said the mines were planted in the 1980s, when Ba’athist military outposts were stationed in the area and their perimeters were mined for protection. “These are all Valmara [69] five-pronged mines, which are extremely dangerous,” he said.
Mustafa noted that warning signs indicating the presence of mines had been installed in the affected areas. “Warning signs are posted there, but it appears the shepherd had lost track of his sheep,” he said, referring to the Pishdar incident.
Landmines and unexploded ordnance remain a persistent threat in parts of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, decades after being planted during Iraq-Iran war. According to the mine action department of the Iraqi Ministry of Environment, more than 4,500 square kilometers of land across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have been cleared of mines since 2003.
However, contamination continues to pose risks. Official figures show that around 2,300 square kilometers of land in Iraq remain affected by mines, including approximately 200 square kilometers within the Kurdistan Region.
In September, Mustafa announced that around two million square meters of land littered with mines and unexploded ordnance had been cleared across the Kurdistan Region between February and September, adding that landmines have claimed the lives of ten people and wounded another 16 during the same time period.
"Our efforts are ongoing to clear the entirety of landmine-contaminated areas of the Kurdistan Region," he told Rudaw, adding that "two million square meters of land have been cleared of mines over the past seven months."
In previous years, approximately 14,000 people have died or been injured due to mines in the Kurdistan Region, according to Mustafa.