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Kurds dismantle hundreds of explosions in Hasakah
[ARA News] Hasakah – After losing many areas to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), ISIS militants have been planting landmines randomly before retreating from main strongholds in northeastern Syria, especially in Hasakah Governorate.Due to the threat such landmines and explosive devices pose to civilian lives, the Kurdish-led Self-Administration has recently established the Roj Organization to dismantle ISIS’ mines and explosives in Hasakah countryside–near the border with Iraq. The organization was established nearly four months ago, with a staff of volunteers who have been working with some modest equipment to dismantle explosives. “We have been encountering mounting difficulties while trying to dismantle those explosives. Operating with such modest equipment affects the progress of our work,” Muhammad al-Himas, a member of the Roj Organization, told ARA News. “We haven’t received any support from the international community so far,” he added. The Roj Organization has recently started working in the al-Hawl area near the Iraqi border in a bid to clear the borderline to allow Iraqi refugees to cross safely. This comes as thousands of people were displaced from the war-torn city of Mosul, and many of them headed to al-Hawl Camp in northeastern Syria. “We came to the al-Hawl area to dismantle the landmines in order to make a secure passage available for Iraqi refugees who have been fleeing from Mosul city,” Malik Ahmed, another volunteer within Roj Organization, told ARA News. “Those people need a safe passage, and we are doing our best to assist them cross the border safely.” Ahmed also pointed out that ISIS has purposively mined many agricultural lands in Hasakash countryside “in an attempt to prevent cultivation”. The ISIS’ leftovers of landmines and explosive devices have claimed lives of dozens of people in Syria’s Hasakah Governorate, especially in the countryside where civilian’s movement became heavily restricted. Posted by: badanov 2016-11-15 |
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