Jan 29, 2015

Iraqi Kurdistan: Canada Provides De-mining Robots to Clear Mines Laid by ISIS


The Canadian Government has given six de-mining robots to the Iraqi Kurdish armed forces, also known as peshmerga, to address the increasing problem posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs). ISIS fighters have been using IEDs around Kurdish army positions and around civilian villages. IEDs account for 70 percent of all deaths of the Kurdish armed forces. The devices pose a serious threat to civilians once they return to their homes.

 

Below is an article published by the National Post:

 

Canada and the international coalition have relied heavily on air strikes to support Kurdish peshmerga fighters combatting the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham in Iraq, but this hasn’t addressed the group’s most lethal tactic.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are currently causing 70% of casualties to peshmerga — the Kurdish armed forces – according to the minister of peshmerga.

Huge numbers of IEDs have been laid by ISIS fighters, at night around peshmerga positions, or throughout entire villages ahead of withdrawals. Kurdish forces face huge challenges clearing areas before Peshmerga advances and later to allow displaced people to return to their homes.

On Tuesday, 27 January 2015, Canadian ambassador to Iraq Bruno Saccomani officially handed over six remotely operated de-mining robots at a ceremony within the concrete blastwalls of a peshmerga compound outside of Erbil — the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region.

Mr. Saccomani’s annoucement came two days after [25 January 2015] Canada’s top general, Chief of Defence Staff Tom Lawson, met with Kurdish leaders in Erbil.

The need for the robots was initially identified in September 2014, Mr. Saccomani said. “You have to understand that for us this is very, very fast,” he told Minister of Peshmerga Mustafa Sayid Qadir.

“Thanks to these robots, we will be able to clear areas of IEDs much quicker,” Mr. Qadir said. “I’m sure these robots will save many, many lives.”

However before they can be operated, peshmerga engineers need to be trained by the Canadian company which supplied the robotos, Med-Eng. Ambassador Saccomani said a time frame for this happening had not been finalized. (Med-Eng did not immediately respond to enquiries about the training schedule.)

Meanwhile, demining experts warn that the IED problem is urgent. Ako Aziz, the director of Mine Risk Education at the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA) described the scale of the problem. “IEDs cover a huge area, from Rabia in the northwest, to Jalawla and Sadia in the southeast. In between is a long line of 1,000 km contaminated with IEDs, TNT, explosives.”

Deminers have struggled with the huge areas to be cleared, as well as identifying hidden or disguised booby traps, he said. Meanwhile, people from areas retaken by Peshmerga are waiting to return. “There have been many casualties from IDPs [internally displaced people] returning to booby-trapped homes. We warn returning civilians that everything in the occupied area can be trapped,” including items like televisions, light switches, and flashlights rigged to explode when handled, he said.

 

Photo courtesy of Xendan, 2015