ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A shepherd was killed Thursday in a TNT explosion in the Kurdistan Region’s northern Duhok province, local authorities said. “At 9:20 am this morning, a body was brought to the hospital. He had died due to an explosion; the person who passed away was a shepherd,” Masoud Boti, deputy director of Duhok’s health directorate, told Rudaw, adding that the incident took place in the northern Amedi district. The victim was identified as H. F. A., a 20-year-old Arab from the Nineveh province. Boti said the shepherd died immediately after the explosion. Jabar Mustafa, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Mine Action Agency (IKMAA), told Rudaw that the explosion was caused by TNT. Iraq and the Kurdistan Region continue to grapple 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 US-led invasion, and the Islamic State’s (ISIS) control over large parts of the country between 2014 and 2017. More recent clashes between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) along the Kurdistan Region’s borders, and especially in the vicinity of Duhok, have also left behind explosive remnants, with some minefields located just a few hundred meters from residential areas. “That area has been declared off-limits due to the war between the PKK and Turkey, but the shepherd was unaware and went there, where TNT exploded on him and he died,” Mustafa said. The PKK announced its dissolution and intention to disarm on May 12, following calls from its founder Abdullah Ocalan to move the Kurdish struggle into the political sphere. The group declared a unilateral ceasefire and held a disarmament ceremony on July 11, during which 30 fighters and commanders burned their weapons. Nearly 40 percent of mine-contaminated areas in the Kurdistan Region - covering close to 250 million square meters - remain uncleared. Since the start 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. The Iraqi Directorate for Mine Action (DMA) and the IKMAA have been working together since they signed a memorandum of understanding last year, outlining their cooperation and mutual technical support until 2028.
