Intense Anbar rainfalls cause Islamic State leftover landmines to explode
Landmine (representational photo)
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Intense rainfalls are causing landmines left behind by Islamic State militants to explode, a local official was quoted saying on Thursday as the militant’s influence in the province nears vanishing.
Sharhabil al-Obaidi, head of al-Baghdadi precinct (90 Km west of Ramadi), told Alsumaria News heavy rains and humidity caused explosives left over by the Islamic State to go off. He said no human losses or material damages resulted from the blasts.
Explosives planted by Islamic State militants during their occupation of several Iraqi cities have occasionally killed civilians and security personnel as Iraqi forces began to retake those regions.
Iraqi troops, backed by a U.S.-led coalition, took over IS’s major bastions in Iraq since October. Currently, only western Anbar’s town of Rawa remain in militants’ grip. IS members have frequently been accused of booby-trapping civilians’ houses to hinder assaulting troops, and of using civilians as human shields.
A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 114 Iraqi civilians were killed, while 244 others were wounded as result of terrorism, violence and armed conflicts during October.