Denmark assists Iraq in clearing landmines
Clearance operation of a land mine. Photo: UNMAS
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Danish government has contributed an additional $3.17 million to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq.
The new contribution will help the Iraqi government protect civilians from the threat of explosive ordnance and support humanitarian, socioeconomic, and reconstruction efforts, according to a statement released by the UNMAS.
The Danish government has given the UNMAS Iraq program more than $35 million since 2015.
Iraq is among the countries with the highest concentration of explosive ordnance worldwide.
The Iraqi Minister of Environment, Nizar Amidi, announced in August that 59 percent of the areas contaminated with mines have been cleared.
Amidi confirmed that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani prioritizes issues related to the environment, adding that sufficient funds have been allocated in the federal budget to clear areas planted with landmines, according to the state news agency (INA).
“Iraq has cleared 59 percent of the areas contaminated with mines, and the remaining 41 percent represent more than 2,000 square kilometers,” Amidi said.
Last March, Amidi stressed the seriousness of the ministry, particularly the Directorate for Mine Action (DMA), to declare Iraq free of mines by 2028, in accordance with Iraq’s obligations towards the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty.
Iraq is the world’s most contaminated country with landmines, partly due to the mines laid by ISIS terrorists to defend the territory it once controlled over Iraq and Syria, according to Reuters.
Iraq was already heavily contaminated as a result of the 2003 invasion by the US-led coalition, the 1991 Gulf War, and the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq war.