After losing 21 members of his family to a mine explosion in central Syria, Abdulaziz al-Aqab had no idea that a picnic would turn into a tragedy that would have long-lasting consequences. The largest number of victims are remnants of war in the world.
Al-Aqab, 41, told AFP: “It was a happy day and it turned into a tragedy, so that I hate going out for a walk.
The father of ten says how “people always feel threatened by an unknown killer whose whereabouts are unknown.”
Explosive objects, including mines, are among the thorniest cases related to the Syrian war, which began in March 2011. Despite the calm on the war fronts, the victims of these deadly objects are still increasing in the United Nations documents. Every day five people are killed or injured because of them.
One day in February 2019, the Al-Aqab family and some relatives prepared to go out for a picnic that started from their hometown in the village of Al-Saan in the countryside of Hama.
But the picnic changed the life of the extended family forever. Twenty-one of them died, including Al-Aqab’s wife, two of his children, four of his brothers, sisters and an uncle. Others were seriously injured, some of them were paralyzed and some of them had their hands and feet amputated.
“A whole family was destroyed,” said al-Aqab, wearing a white robe and sunglasses as he walked with his orphaned nephews.
“In 2019, there was no war and war, but death was waiting for us from within the earth, this is our destiny,” he says.
And he explains sadly: “In war, you know your enemy from your friend, you know where the armed enemies are and you don’t approach them. In the case of mines, the enemy is hidden where you don’t know where it is.”
Since 2015, UNMAS has recorded 15,000 people killed or injured by explosive devices, equivalent to five people killed or injured per day.
Habib al-Haq Javed, director of the agency in Syria, told AFP: “It’s a huge number,” and added: “Today, Syria has recorded the highest number of victims as a result of explosive munitions in the world.”
According to the United Nations, “about 10.2 million people live in areas contaminated by explosives,” which, according to Javid, “Syria is one of two people at risk as a result of remnants of war.”
The risk of dealing with the threat of explosive munitions in a country that is witnessing a complex conflict that has claimed the lives of about half a million people and during which several sides have adopted a mine-laying strategy in different areas, does not seem easy. .
Landmines left in agricultural lands and between residential areas are a constant danger to farmers, passers-by, and herders.
During the Syrian regime army’s demining training on the outskirts of Damascus, an officer of the Corps of Engineers, who did not reveal his identity, explained to AFP that “mines have a long shelf life due to the properties of fixed explosives.” “Keeping them in the enclosure helps keep them ready.” to explode longer.
He explains that as a result of “the domination of several armed groups over separate areas, the laying of mines was carried out randomly.”
Syrian regime authorities report almost every day the explosion of ammunition and explosives left over from the war, especially in the vicinity of the capital.
In addition to efforts made in regime-controlled areas, initiatives outside regime control have seen initiatives to counter the threat of remnants of war.
In northwestern Syria, White Helmets teams (civilian defense in faction-controlled areas) are investigating and removing munitions and holding workshops to raise awareness about their dangers.
About 24,000 have been destroyed since then, says Raed Hassoun, director of a White Helmets-affiliated center responsible for destroying unexploded ordnance, which was established in Aleppo in 2016.
He explained: We deal with unexploded ordnance based on one principle, the first mistake is the last fatal mistake.
The UN emphasizes that “clearance is the only permanent solution to eliminate the threat of explosive ordnance.”
The town of Daraya, which was a base for the warring groups between 2012 and 2016 in Western Ghouta, near Damascus, reflects the depth of the problem as it “recorded a high degree of contamination by explosive ordnance,” according to the United Nations. which also affected agricultural lands. Daraya witnessed the “first purge” in the regime-controlled area.
In the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp south of Damascus, which was controlled by opposition factions before ISIS took over from 2015 to 2018, explosives were found in about 200 of the 6,000 buildings that were inspected.
The United Nations is facing a major challenge of limited funding. “We need support from all actors as soon as possible,” says Javed.
In 2017, Zakia al-Bushi went out with eight members of her family to collect truffles in the town of Deir Hafar in the eastern outskirts of Aleppo, only three of whom returned.
While they were walking in a desert area, Zakia’s brother spotted a land mine that the family managed to avoid, but another hidden mine was under their watch.
Incidents of landmines among civilians are frequent during the truffle season, with many leaving to collect them in the vast desert areas that were for a time under the control of ISIS, which uses landmines as a key strategy during He considered his years. It was even used to blow up buildings, cars, household appliances and food packages.
Zakia, 47, who lost her mother and brother and her daughter’s ability to speak as a result of the mine explosion, sighed to AFP: “The mine cut off our hands and feet.”
Source: Lebanon Debate
