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Syria records a casualty every 6 hours from unexploded ordnance

AFP
By AFP
September 02, 2026 01:20 PM GMT+03:00

Syria faces a growing problem with unexploded ordnance after Bashar Assad's fall from power. 

International organizations and NGOs led by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) say incidents involving unexploded ordnance have killed or injured at least 2,375 people, including more than 850 children. 

Actual figures are believed to run far higher.

AFP
By AFP

Over 13 years of war, rival sides planted mines and explosive devices in various parts of the country, posing a dangerous challenge as Syria works to recover and rebuild.

AFP
By AFP

The Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor said in a preliminary report released in June that Syria recorded the highest number of casualties worldwide last year from landmines and explosive war remnants, with around 1,600 victims.

AFP
By AFP

Simon Jackson, Syria's program manager for mine-clearance charity the Hazardous Area Life-support Organisation (HALO Trust), told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that "the average rate of accident is one person becoming a casualty every six hours" in Syria.

AFP
By AFP

Syria has recorded almost 700 casualties from explosive accidents this year, one-third of them deadly, he said, while children accounted for a similar share of the total.

AFP
By AFP

Over 60% of incidents have occurred in agricultural land or grazing areas, he added, noting that early 2025 saw "a large spike in accidents as people rushed back to their communities" after Assad fell from power.

AFP
By AFP

"If we doubled the rate at which we are working as a sector, it would still take at least 10 years," Jackson continued. 

"We're really looking at sort of 20 to 30 years in total to solve this problem."