ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) mine action agency announced on Sunday that it will file lawsuits against individuals posting videos showing the tampering of mines and explosives. The agency stated that such content downplays the dangers of mines and has contributed to a rise in fatalities and injuries.
“In the videos, someone is shown tampering with mines using a knife, and another person is holding a mine and describing it,” Jabar Mustafa, head of the KRG’s Directorate of Mine Action (IKMAA), told Rudaw.
Mustafa emphasized that such actions are “legally prohibited,” noting that the agency will issue warnings before proceeding with legal complaints.
He also cautioned against efforts by volunteers to clear minefields, saying, “They clear a few meters and then claim the entire area has been cleared.”
“No individual or organization is allowed to clear even a single meter without the approval of the relevant authorities,” he stressed.
On Thursday, the IKMAA issued a public announcement directed at media outlets and social media platforms, stating: “Trespassing into minefield boundaries and restricted explosive areas is being depicted in a way that minimizes the danger of mines to the public, resulting in severe accidents and casualties.”
Iraq and the Kurdistan Region continue to struggle with the legacy of landmines and unexploded ordnance left behind by decades of conflict, including the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), the 1991 Gulf War, the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and the Islamic State’s (ISIS) brutal control over large parts of the country between 2014 and 2017.
More recent clashes - particularly between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) along the Kurdistan Region’s borders - have also left behind explosive remnants, with some minefields located just a few hundred meters from residential areas.
Approximately 40 percent of mine-contaminated areas in the Kurdistan Region—covering nearly 250 million square meters - remain uncleared. Of this, 47 percent lies within Erbil province.
Since the beginning of 2025, at least four people have died and three others have been injured in mine explosions in the Kurdistan Region, according to data obtained by Rudaw.
