Two people, one of them a child, were killed and two others were injured when war remnants exploded in Deir Ezzor governorate, eastern Syria, today, Thursday, June 4.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent reported that young man Ibrahim Hassan al-Salama, from the town of al-Bo-Amr, east of Deir Ezzor, was killed.
The child Omar Khallouf al-Abd al-Nasser later died of wounds he sustained in the explosion of a war projectile, according to the correspondent.
Two other people were also injured when a projectile left behind by the war exploded as they were trying to dismantle it, after it was found in the town this morning.
Despite more than a year and a half passing since the fall of the former Syrian regime and the near-total halt in military operations, the effects of war continue to claim lives in areas that were once battlefields.
War remnants, including projectiles and mines, are widespread in residential and agricultural areas, killing hundreds, especially after displaced people and forcibly displaced residents returned to their villages, towns, and cities.
Children and Women Account for a Third
The Syrian Network for Human Rights documented the killing of at least 3,799 civilians, including 1,000 children and 377 women, due to the explosion of landmines and cluster munition remnants in Syria from the start of the Syrian revolution in March 2011 until last April.
The report, published by the network on April 4 to mark the International Day for Mine Awareness, said that 329 civilians, including 65 children and 29 women, have been killed since the fall of the former regime.
According to the network, 3,398 civilians were killed by landmine explosions, including 862 children and 343 women, while the death toll from cluster munition remnants reached 401 civilians, including 138 children and 34 women.
Children account for about 26% of all landmine victims, while women account for about 10%, highlighting the indiscriminate nature of these weapons, which, once planted, do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
Most were from the regime and Russian Attacks
In terms of geographic distribution, about 63% of landmine victims were concentrated in the governorates of Aleppo, where 814 deaths were recorded, Raqqa with 676, Deir Ezzor with 645, followed by Hama with 342, Daraa with 274, and Idlib with 222.
As for victims of cluster munitions, about 84% were concentrated in the governorates of Aleppo with 94, Idlib with 87, Hama with 84, and Daraa with 70.
The network confirmed that former regime forces, alongside Russia [CHECK ARABIC], carried out most of the cluster munition attacks that left behind these remnants.
The network estimates that at least 10,600 civilians were injured with wounds of varying severity, including a large number who need prosthetic limbs and long-term rehabilitation services.
Warning Against Approaching Suspicious Objects
Community safety expert Ahmed al-Salem believes the problem lies not only in the spread of mines, but also in “the absence of continuous and systematic awareness programs targeting children in particular.”
Al-Salem explained in a previous Enab Baladi report that handling suspicious objects, even out of curiosity, can lead to catastrophic consequences. He stressed the need to introduce safety concepts into school curricula and community activities.
He added that the solution requires “integration between awareness, placing clear warning signs, and accelerating survey and mine removal operations,” warning that the continuation of the current situation will lead to “more victims, especially among children.”
Syrian Civil Defense teams, affiliated with the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management, issue warnings about mines and unexploded ordnance. They warn against approaching strange or suspicious objects and call on people to contact the relevant authorities.
The post War Remnants Kill Two in Deir Ezzor appeared first on Enab Baladi.