Even after 35 years after its end; the Iraq-Iran war is still having casualties

By: Muhammed Jihangir

It’s been 35 years since the 8 years old Iraq-Iran war ended which started in 1980 between Iran which was ruled by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and Iraq which had Saddam Hussein Majid was in power at that time. The war ended in 1980 with 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 casualties   from both sides and no clear winners. Despite the long duration that had passed over the end of it,  the number of casualties is still increasing, and the reason for that is the hidden land mines that are placed by both Irani and past Iraqi regimes.

The autonomous territory of Iraqi Kurdistan, which can be found in the northern part of Iraq, is well known for the stunning landscapes, towering mountains, and pristine rivers that can be found there,  among other things. The region is the most affected place in Iraq for the laying of mines, although the territory has a long border with Iran. There have also been ongoing Kurdish revolutions against Iraqi administrations, which is another reason why the region is such a victim of mine laying.  Despite this, the region is still the most affected place in Iraq for the laying of mines. The warning signs for mines that are posted only 30 to 40 meters away from the primary routes in certain villages might easily scare people. According to Jabar Mustafa Rasul, the chairman of the Mine Action Agency in the  Kurdistan Region, more than 13,500 persons from the Kurdistan region had either been killed or injured as a result of mine explosions. This number includes 116 personnel of the Mine Action Agency in the  KRG as well as international organizations.

The history of mine laying in Iraqi Kurdistan may be traced back to the early years following Abd al Karim Qasim's declaration of the Republic of Iraq in 1958. The September movement began in the northeast of Iraqi Kurdistan in 1961. As a result, the Iraqi government began laying mines in the areas where the movement was headquartered. As the upheavals and uprisings in Kurdistan progressed,  minelaying also occurred. However, the serious minelaying in Kurdistan began with the Iraq-Iran war, during which both governments planted between 6 and 7 million mines at a depth of 20 to 30 kilometers inside the borders of Kurdistan. This began the heavy minelaying in Kurdistan. Following the conclusion of the eight-year conflict, Saddam's authority made no effort to clean the mine-infested areas from the battlefield. The regime of Saddam Hussein was ousted in Kurdistan in 1991, and the Kurds in Iraq established an autonomous area at the same time; yet, mine laying did not stop at that point. As a result of the civil war that broke out in Iraqi Kurdistan in 1994 between Kurdish groups, many of the land mines that had been planted by previous Iraqi regimes were used again by the warring parties. People stacked the explosives and then sold them to the Kurdish parties, who subsequently put the mines in an unpredictable pattern against one another.

Mam Rasul, who is from the mine-affected area of Balakaity and clears the minefields there personally,  has a very lengthy and intriguing history with mines; he has been injured by landmine explosions seven times, and as a result, he now sees land mines as toys. Mam Rasul clears the minefields individually. You can hear a lot of anecdotes and jokes about Mam Rasul and the mines if you talk to the people who live  in the region about the land mines. The locals remember Mam Rasul specifically when you ask them about the land mines. People believe that Mam Rasul's prosthesis, which was fitted for him after he lost his leg in an accident involving a land mine in the past, was destroyed when a land mine exploded at some point in the past. After the explosion, he looked at his leg and noticed that the prosthetic was the only thing that was missing. He then addressed the mine by saying, "Oh dude, the wrong one." I inquired as to whether or not it was accurate, and Mam Rasul responded, "Well, it's right that again I misplaced my prosthesis, but I haven't mentioned such a thing. "The land mines aren't just killing and injuring us; they  are also preventing our farmers and animal owners from doing their jobs," added Mam Rasul, who  hoped that "The land mines aren't just killing and injuring us; they are also preventing our children from  going to school."

According to Jabar Mustafa, who was speaking on the placement of landmines in Kurdistan, "The mines  that have been placed in the Kurdistan Region over the past 60 years were made by 37 countries and  sold to Iraq, the majority of them by Italy, the United States, and Israel."

Anti-tank and anti-personnel mines are both strewn across Kurdistan as a deterrent to potential attackers. The remaining ten percent are anti-tank, but ninety percent of them are anti-personnel; the  Italian VS 50 and Valmara have been responsible for the greatest number of casualties caused by these weapons.

The Mine Action Agency of the KRG found that there were 7 million mines spread throughout 776  square kilometers of land in the Kurdistan Region. This information was obtained from the KRG. Out of that total, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), international organizations, and private mining corporations have only cleared 516 square kilometers of minefields and mined 5 million hectares of land. That translates to the fact that there are still 260 square kilometers of minefields and 2 million landmines in the area, both of which have the potential to kill anyone at any time.

However, The Ottawa Treaty, which Iraq is a signatory to and which prohibits the use, development,  production, acquisition, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines, stipulates that there should have been no mines left in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, by the year 2007. However, due to political and economic instability, the Iraqi government and the KRG were unable to successfully clear the mine fields. The deadline was then pushed back to 2018, however despite this extension, neither administration was able to meet it. The year 2028 has been set as the new deadline for Iraq and  Kurdistan to clean their territory of mines. In regard to this topic, I questioned Jabar Mustafa about  whether or not he believes that both governments are capable of achieving this goal, and he responded  by saying, "If the situation continues like that, I do not think so."

For allocating a budget that was sufficient to clear the minefields. According to Jabar Mustafa, "None of  the sides provided enough according to their budget, despite the fact that the Ottawa Treaty ordered  Iraq provides 60 percent of its own budget and other countries in the treaty would provide 40 percent  of it."

He also mentioned that our organization has not had adequate cars to transfer our items and equipment for the past three to four years, which has caused the process to move at a much more snail-like pace.  Since I took over as director of the agency in 2020, the government has made numerous assurances that it will purchase sufficient vehicles, but there is currently nothing to be seen.

In reference to the laborious process of removing the minefields another man who clears the minefields personally and did not want his name to be stated said, I believe that some of the organizations are doing it on purpose so that they may have a longer duration working in the minefields, which means that they can have more cash from foreign countries and international organizations. This is why some of the organizations are doing what they are doing.

Zamyar Majid, another resident of Balakaiaty, has an alternative theory despite the fact that mines have been responsible for a great deal of harm. He claims that the mines, despite their negative effects, also have some positive aspects: the portions of land that are mined are kept out of the hands of humans,  which ensures that the natural environment is protected in such locations. You can immediately tell the difference between the areas that have landmines and the areas that do not have landmines; the areas with landmines tend to be considerably cleaner and have a significantly larger amount of trees. According to Gali Kurdistan TV’s information from the last 3 to 4 years, KRG’s mine agency, international organizations, and mine companies together have only extracted 600 mine lands a year, which makes it only 0.0003 from the 2 million mines that are left underground.

According to Gali Kurdistan TV’s information from the last 3 to 4 years, KRG’s mine agency, international  organizations, and mine companies together have only extracted 600 mine lands a year, which makes it  only 0.0003 from the 2 million mines that are left underground

Now, how many more decades will be extended for Iraq to remove the last mine underground?