Different parts of Iraq have experienced numerous episodes of armed conflict. As a result, many areas of the country are contaminated with explosive remnants of war (ERW), such as improvised explosive devices (IED), improvised mines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and landmines. Particularly northern Iraq, which was heavily affected by the violent conflict waged by and against the so-called Islamic State (IS), has very high levels of contamination that severely impact the lives of ordinary people living in this region. 

To save lives and limbs, to allow displaced people to return home, and to provide space for economic recovery and social development in the areas most affected by armed violence in the past, SHO is conducting clearance operations in Ninewa Governorate. SHO has three manual teams and one mechanical team working inside hazard areas to find and clear explosive ordnance – most of them improvised landmines, but also IEDs, UXOs and other explosive hazards. 

All SHO clearance teams are composed of well trained, highly skilled and experienced staff. After marking the hazard areas and setting up control points, the teams begin setting up clearance lanes and searching the ground in a systematic way for explosive hazards, using metal detectors and visual detection methods. This is a slow and tedious process, made more difficult by high rates of scrap metal contamination. Once a mine of an improvised manner or other types of ERW are found, they are rendered safe by specially trained and accredited operators, removed from the area and eventually demolished with help from the Iraqi security forces.

In this way, SHO’s manual clearance teams have cleared over 2.4 million square meters of land since they began operations in December 2020 – and are clearing more land every week. In the process, SHO’s teams have found and rendered safe over 2,700 explosive devices, most of them improvised landmines. These items have been removed from the area and were destroyed, so that they cannot harm civilians any longer.