Anbar removed 38.000 leftover munitions in 2 years
Security forces seize weapons in Kirkuk.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Civil defense in Anbar have cleared and destroyed 38.000 munition items left over from Islamic State militants’ presence and security forces battles against the group in the province.
Fawzi Yassin, commander of the province’s civil defense directorate, told Alsumaria News on Wednesday that teams, over the past two years, cleared and destroyed more than 38.174 projectiles from areas recaptured by security forces.
The removed explosives included rockets, bullet rounds and multi-sized projectiles, adding that efforts continue to clear the remaining areas.
Since 2015, United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has cleared 390 priority locations in Falluja and Ramadi in Anbar province, removing more than 2,600 explosive hazards from areas reclaimed from Islamic State.
Islamic State militants invaded several Iraqi cities in 2014 and proclaimed a self-styled Islamic “Caliphate”. An Iraqi government campaign, backed by a United States-led coalition, and launched after the emergence of the group, managed to retake areas occupied by the militants, ending with Anbar’s western city of Rawa, IS’s last bastion in the country, which was retaken in November.
Leftover explosives continue to pose a threat at areas seized back from IS, occasionally leaving deaths among civilians, according to local news reports.