3 Children Killed in landmine Explosion in Jalawla

Iraq 07:17 PM - 2022-07-31

Three children were killed on Sunday as a result of a landmine explosion in the Jalawla area of Khanaqin district.

Colonel Shamal Abdul Rahman, Asayish director of Kulajo District, said in a special statement to PUKmedia, "at 5:20 pm today, four children found a mine in the village of Faraj Arab in the Jalawla sub-district."

"As a result of a landmine explosion, three of the children died," he added.

"The bodies of the children were transferred to Jalawla hospital." indicating that "one of the Four children was in a critical condition in hospital," Colonel Shamal said.

Asayish director of Kulajo District said that "an investigation into the incident has been launched."

Jalawla is a town in Diyala Governorate, Iraq. It is located on the Diyala River, 8 kilometres north of Sadiyah. The town is populated by Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens.

The Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA) has recorded a total of 13,505 mine explosion incidents in the Kurdistan Region over recent decades, killing and injuring a number of people. 

A number of mine action organisations, such as the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and Mines Advisory Group (MAG), are working to clean contaminated areas in the Kurdistan Region. 

The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a joint statement calling for action to be taken towards an Iraq free of mines and explosive ordnance, stating that over 519 children have been killed or injured in Iraq over the last five years from explosive ordnance, and that landmines and explosive remnants of war remain one of the leading threats to children in the country.

A large number of the ERWs and landmines are the result of the fight against ISIS, while most of those found in the Kurdistan Region date back to more than three decades ago, during the Iran-Iraq War from 1980 to 1988. Around 13,400 mine explosion victims have been recorded since the 1990s, according to the KRG’s Mine Action Agency.



PUKmedia