5 million landmines pose threat to civilians’ lives in Amara
Aswat Al Iraq
MISSAN / Aswat al-Iraq: Five million landmines from the Iraqi-Iranian war have not been removed so far as demands are growing on the central government to end this lurking danger that claimed the lives of nearly 6,000 people, according to a local health official in Missan.
“The eastern areas of the city of al-Amara, namely al-Tayyib area, are repeatedly witnessing accidents of blasts of landmines left from the Iraqi-Iranian war,” Maytham Lafta al-Fartusi, the chairman of the Missan Provincial Council’s health & environment committee, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
He said about five million landmines left in those areas are jeopardizing the lives of citizens, particularly shepherds and workers for the Missan Oil Company, holding organizations he did not name “legally and humanly responsible” for failing to deliver on pledges to remove landmines in the province.
Ali al-Allaq, the director of the medical operations section in the Missan Health Department, said the recent survey found by the statistical center for landmine victims held that 5,800 persons were killed or maimed by landmine explosions.
Citizen Mohammed Abd al-Zahra, a victim of landmine blasts, told Aswat al-Iraq that a landmine went off near him in the area of al-Tayyib while he was out with his family to celebrate the Nawroz festival.
“The jubilant occasion turned into a real tragedy as I lost one of my legs and was forced to retire on a pension that barely makes both ends meet,” he said.
Abd al-Zahra noted that he was promised an artificial limb by the center, in addition to some limited privileges.
Source http://en.aswataliraq.info/(S(0z3j3e31fiyogxjtt2jy2qrr))/Default1.aspx?page=article_page&id=147934&l=1
“The eastern areas of the city of al-Amara, namely al-Tayyib area, are repeatedly witnessing accidents of blasts of landmines left from the Iraqi-Iranian war,” Maytham Lafta al-Fartusi, the chairman of the Missan Provincial Council’s health & environment committee, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
He said about five million landmines left in those areas are jeopardizing the lives of citizens, particularly shepherds and workers for the Missan Oil Company, holding organizations he did not name “legally and humanly responsible” for failing to deliver on pledges to remove landmines in the province.
Ali al-Allaq, the director of the medical operations section in the Missan Health Department, said the recent survey found by the statistical center for landmine victims held that 5,800 persons were killed or maimed by landmine explosions.
Citizen Mohammed Abd al-Zahra, a victim of landmine blasts, told Aswat al-Iraq that a landmine went off near him in the area of al-Tayyib while he was out with his family to celebrate the Nawroz festival.
“The jubilant occasion turned into a real tragedy as I lost one of my legs and was forced to retire on a pension that barely makes both ends meet,” he said.
Abd al-Zahra noted that he was promised an artificial limb by the center, in addition to some limited privileges.
Source http://en.aswataliraq.info/(S(0z3j3e31fiyogxjtt2jy2qrr))/Default1.aspx?page=article_page&id=147934&l=1
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