Canine detectives find war remnants
Remnants of those battles under Saddam Hussein’s regime continue to maim innocent civilians today.
Millions of landmines remain planted beneath the country’s soil and millions more unexploded war munitions and lethal devices lie undiscovered near communities.
The northern province of Sulaymaniyah, in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, borders Iran and is one of the most contaminated places for mines in the world. Outside the main city, a graveyard of killing machines, tank shells, landmines, bombs and even military vehicles lie abandoned in an industrial metal dump, known as Tanjaro scrapyard.
The scrapyard is the size of a football pitch and thousands of dumped shells, mines and artillery pieces lie just metres from a local village. Children come and play among the metal debris, as well as goat herders with their flocks.
Two deminers with the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) were killed three years ago while attempting to defuse bombs on site.
Local MAG field operation manager Jabar Fatin Mohammed explains:
“A local company has been promising for years to melt everything together to make a giant roof for a building. Most of the munitions are leftovers from the 2003 [Gulf] war. We’ve de-armed many mines here but it could still be dangerous.”
Local guards outside the dump tell us that nobody, especially children, can access the scrapyard but as soon as they claim this we spot youngsters wandering among the metal debris.
Further west in the arid province of Chamchamal, MAG teams specialise in using demining sniffer dogs to help clear landmine fields.
This region is MAG’s biggest operation in Iraq. Most work involves clearing areas, which were mined by Iraqi forces in the 1990s to protect against rebelling Kurdish army attacks. However, unexploded cluster bombs also remain on sites targeted by US airstrikes in the Gulf Wars.
The Government and commercial companies are also keen to get lands cleared, with many lying next to the oil-rich hub of Kirkuk.
MAG dog handlers use eight dogs out of their local base to help clear lands. These trained canine clearers can sweep over 500 metres a day, a larger area than workers can cover with metal detectors.
Many of the dogs were born and trained abroad, in countries that specialise in raising sniffer dogs.
Mine detection dog supervisor Omar Rasool explains: “When they are puppies, you give them a ball. You put a explosive odour into it, but it’s a vapour or plastic or metal and not real explosives.
“If they find the smell, they get the ball. It also makes them hungry, so we give them food as a reward.”
Five-year-old Leslie is brought out for training in a mock mine field at the base.
Obediently standing next to her handler, the German shepherd suddenly shoots her nose down to ground level and roams up the field once the order of “search” or “sweep slowly” is given.
Within seconds the sniffer dog locates the explosive-scented toy ball that was planted for her to find.
Rasool says that Leslie, one of their best canine detectives, has so far helped sniff out 25 mines in the area.
“It does help save lives and the process is sometimes faster.”
Mechanical digging teams also help increase the speed and efficiency with which areas can be demined.
Diggers or JCBs fitted with armour plated glass are used by MAG in rocky fields and where mines were washed into gullies after floods or where devices are buried among scree or rocks.
* This series was carried out with the help of the Simon Cumbers Media Fund, supported by Irish Aid
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