War ordnance in February 2022 | 70 civilians killed and wounded, including 47 children
SOHR renews its appeal to all relevant international bodies to urgently address the problem of explosive remnants of war across Syria
The Syrian war ordnance such as landmines, IEDs and unexploded devices continue to pose a serious danger to the lives of innocent Syrians across the entire Syrian geography. These explosive remnants of war(ERW), which have been planted by military formations in most Syrian regions for over ten years or so, have tragically claimed the lives of so many innocent Syrians.
As a human rights organisation, SOHR has monitored and tracked the issue of explosive remnants of war (ERW) and documented the casualties in explosions of old landmines and unexploded shells and bombs across Syria in February 2022; and they are as follows:
- Deaths: 33 civilians, including two women and 16 children.
- Wounded people: 37 civilians, including two women and 31 children.
SOHR monitored Syria’s explosive remnants of war (ERW) issue and documented casualties it claimed across Syria in January 2022, which are as follows:
- 11 fatalities, including two children.
- 17 wounded, including nine children and two females, some of whom sustained severe injuries.
SOHR calls on all the relevant international organisations to work on the immediate neutralising and removal of unexploded war ordnance in Syrian. Explosive remnants of war (ERW) are a serious problem that need to be addressed urgently. SOHR would like to see, as a first step, the immediate involvement of international organisation in raising the awareness of local Syrians of the dangers of ERW.
SOHR monitored Syria’s explosive remnants of war (ERW) issue and documented casualties in explosions of old ordnance across Syria in 2021, which are as follows:
- 241 fatalities, including 114 children and 19 females.
- 128 wounded, including 60 children and 27 females, some of whom sustained severe injuries.
The total number of fatalities, according to SOHR statistics, include 49 persons of whom 13 females and seven children, all killed while searching for and collecting the expensive wild truffle that grows in areas that witness heavy rainfall.
The single largest “truffle” fatalities occurred on March 7, when two landmines exploded in Wadi Al-Azeeb area, east of Hama, killing 18 people, of whom ten were women, and injuring six others.
SOHR statistics show that the largest number of ERW casualties was recorded in the first quarter of 2021, where more than 100 civilians, of whom 20 females and 34 children, were killed, while 35 persons sustained various wounds and injuries.
