ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - At least eight people were injured on Friday in a landmine explosion in the Penjwen district of Sulaimani province, near the Iranian border, a local official confirmed to The New Region.

The incident occurred at around 9 AM in Kelo village, Penjwen district, said Saman Nadir, who is in charge of the Sulaimani Rapid Care Emergency Department.

“Eight workers were injured when an old landmine exploded,” Nadir said, adding, “Two of the injured have been rushed to hospitals in Sulaimani, and the remaining six received treatments in Penjwen.”

All the injured are in stable condition, he detailed.

Unexploded landmines dispersed across the border areas of the Kurdistan Region with Iran continue to pose a serious threat, especially during times of increased foot traffic in remote areas during spring and summer.

Since March, more than six people have been killed in landmine explosions in the mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region near the Iranian border, with most of the victims being herb foragers.

Every year during spring, people from urban areas flock to the countryside and mountainous regions for picnicking and harvesting wild herbs and plants, running the risk of encountering unexploded ordnance and sustaining injuries while navigating the rugged terrain.

Approximately three million square meters of mine-contaminated areas in the Kurdistan Region were cleared in 2024, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) mine agency, with at least four people losing their lives to the explosives that year.

Jabbar Mustafa Rasul, head of the IKMAA, told The New Region in January that their teams cleared around 2,956,000 square meters across the minefields of the Kurdistan Region last year, a slight increase from 2,803,326 square meters in 2023.

A total of 776 square kilometers of the Kurdistan Region are contaminated with mines and remnants of war, of which 559 square kilometers have been demined, and 217 square kilometers remain, Rasul noted, adding that Sulaimani province has the largest land area yet to be cleared.

The mine agency has cleared approximately 11 million square meters since 2019.

Around 13,500 people have been killed or injured due to landmines in the Kurdistan Region over the decades, according to Rasul, who added that anti-personnel mines make up approximately 90 percent of all mines in the Region, while the remainder consists of anti-tank mines.