SOHR: A landmine blast in Syria has killed at least 11 people

 Eleven people were killed and dozens injured when their pickup truck struck a landmine near the southern Syrian city of Daraa.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “11 people were killed, including five children under the age of 16 and three women, and about 34 were injured.”

Syria’s state news agency said most of the victims were wheat harvesters.

The latest death toll from explosive remnants of war has risen to 124 since the beginning of 2022, according to the UK-based Observatory, which relies on a vast network of sources in Syria.

Explosives dropped on fields, roads or even buildings on all sides in Syria’s decades-long conflict have injured thousands of civilians and killed hundreds more.

According to the United Nations, nearly half of the country’s population lives in areas contaminated with unexploded ordnance.

In 2020, Syria surpassed Afghanistan with the highest number of casualties recorded by landmines and explosive remnants of war, killing or injuring 2,729 people, according to the Landmine Monitor.

The Observatory said that in 2021, 241 civilians were killed and 128 injured by explosive remnants of war across Syria.

The war in Syria has killed an estimated half a million people and left millions homeless since the brutal crackdown on anti-government protests began in 2011.