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Syrians returning home face the deadly threat of landmines

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Heba Bitter and Lina Shaikhuni

Idlib, Syria

BBC Weeping old man looks down. Tears show on his cheek. BBC

Aygad and his father were displaced by the fighting in northwestern Syria

Aygad never thought that his dream of returning to his farm could turn into a nightmare.

He fights back tears as he shows us a photo of his late father smiling amid the rich olive trees on their land in Idlib province in northwestern Syria.

The picture was taken five years ago, months before forces linked to the former government seized their village, near the town of Saraqeb.

The city was a strategic stronghold for Syrian opposition groups for years before forces linked to the ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad launched an offensive against rebels in Idlib province in late 2019.

Hundreds of thousands of residents fled their homes as Assad’s forces captured several other rebel strongholds in the northwest by early 2020.

Aygad and his father were among the displaced persons.

“We had to leave because of the fighting and the airstrikes,” Aygad says, his eyes filling with tears. “My father refused to leave. He wanted to die on his land.”

A grainy photo of Aygad's father

Aygad’s father died instantly when his car hit a mine

Father and son have longed to return since then. And when opposition forces regained control of their village in November 2024, their dream was to come true. But soon trouble happened.

“We went to our land to harvest olives,” Aygad explains. “We drove in two different cars. My father took a different route to our home in the city of Idlib. I warned him, but he insisted. His car hit a mine and exploded.”

Aigad’s father died immediately on the spot. That day, he not only lost his father, but also his family’s main source of income. Their farmland, which spanned 100,000 square meters, was filled with 50-year-old olive trees. Now it is recognized as a dangerous minefield.

A male black bot placed next to a group of green mines

Hundreds of thousands of mines threaten the return of Syrians to their land

At least 144 people, including 27 children, have been killed by landmines and unexploded remnants of war since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in early December, according to the Halo Trust, an international organization specializing in demining and other explosive devices.

The Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, told the BBC that many of those killed were farmers and landowners trying to return to their lands after the collapse of the Assad regime.

The lingering remnants of war pose a serious threat to life in Syria. They are mainly divided into two categories. The first are unexploded ordnance (UXO) such as cluster bombs, mortars and grenades.

Hassan Talfa, who heads the White Helmets team to clear unexploded ordnance in northwestern Syria, explains that these devices are less difficult to eliminate because they are usually visible above ground.

The White Helmets say they have defused about 822 unexploded ordnance in northwest Syria between November 27 and January 3.

The bigger problem, Mr. Talfa says, lies in the second category of munitions, land mines. He explains that the former government forces planted hundreds of thousands of them in various parts of Syria – mostly in farmland.

A man in PPE - a blue bulletproof vest and a white helmet with binoculars. A man points to a place, a journalist next to him looks into the distance.

Hassan Talfa of the White Helmets led an unexploded ordnance disposal team in northwestern Syria

Most of the deaths recorded since the fall of the Assad regime have occurred on the former front lines, according to the White Helmets. Most of those killed were men.

Mr. Talfa led us to two huge fields littered with landmines. Our car followed him on a long, narrow and winding dirt road. This is the only safe way to the fields.

On the sides of the road, children run on the playground. Hassan tells us that they are from families that have recently returned. But they are surrounded by the danger of mines.

As we get out of the car, he points to a barrier in the distance.

“It was the last point that separates areas under the control of government forces from those held by opposition groups” in Idlib province, he tells us.

He adds that Assad’s forces have planted thousands of landmines in fields outside the barrier to halt the advance of rebel forces.

The fields around where we stand were once vital farmland. Today they are all barren, with no green to be seen except for the green tops of the mines that we can see through binoculars.

With no experience in demining, all the White Helmets can do for now is to cordon off these fields and put up signs along their borders warning people.

They also spray warning labels on earth barriers and houses at the edges of fields. “Danger is ahead of the mine,” it says.

They run campaigns to raise local residents’ awareness of the dangers of entering contaminated land.

On the way back, we meet a farmer in his 30s who recently returned. He tells us that part of the land belongs to his family.

“We didn’t recognize any of it,” says Mohammed. “We used to sow wheat, barley, cumin and cotton. There is nothing we can do now. And until we can cultivate these lands, we will always be in a bad economic state,” he adds, clearly disappointed.

Red and white tape fences the area, close-up of a red sign with a white skull. The sign reads: "Danger, unexploded weapon".

Syrian White Helmets put up warning signs to protect civilians

The White Helmets say that in just over a month, they have identified and cordoned off about 117 minefields.

They are not the only ones working on demining and exploding ordnance, but there seems to be a lack of coordination between the efforts of the different organizations.

There are no accurate statistics on the territories contaminated by UXO and mines. But international organizations such as the Halo Trust have drawn up rough maps.

Halo Syria program manager Damian O’Brien says a comprehensive study is needed to understand the extent of pollution in the country. According to his estimates, about one million devices will need to be destroyed to protect the lives of the civilian population in Syria.

“Any Syrian army position is likely to have mines laid around it as a defensive method,” says Mr O’Brien.

“There are whole neighborhoods in places like Homs and Hama that have been almost completely destroyed. Anyone who goes into these structures to assess them, either for demolition or for restoration, should be aware that there may well be unexploded objects in there, be it bullets, cluster munitions, grenades, shells.”

BBC News A man in a white beret uniform - navy blue and yellow - looks through documents and maps. BBC News

The fallen Assad forces left behind dozens of maps and documents

The White Helmets stumbled upon a treasure that could help in demining. In their office in the city of Idlib, Mr Talfa shows us a stack of maps and documents left behind by government forces.

They show the location, number and types of mines planted in various fields in northwestern Syria.

“We will hand over these documents to the authorities that will deal directly with the mines,” says Mr. Talfa.

But the local expertise currently available in Syria does not seem to be sufficient to deal with the serious danger posed by unexploded ordnance to civilian life.

Mr O’Brien stressed that the international community must work together with the new Syrian government to improve the experience in the country.

“What we need from donors is funding to be able to expand our capacity, which means employing more people, buying more machines and working in a wider area,” he says.

A map showing mine and explosive ordnance hotspots in Syria

For Mr. Tolfach, clearing unexploded ordnance and raising awareness of its dangers has become a personal mission. Ten years ago, he himself lost his leg while defusing a cluster bomb.

He says his injury and all the horrific incidents he witnessed with children and civilians injured by unexploded ordnance only fueled his determination to keep working.

“I never want any civilian or team member to go through what I have,” he says.

“I can’t describe the feeling I get when I eliminate a danger that threatens the lives of civilians.”

But until international and local efforts are coordinated to neutralize the danger of landmines, the lives of many civilians, especially children, remain at risk.

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