The Justice for Life organization is keeping documenting the victims of landmines and IEDs in Deir Ezzor province in order to shed light on the civilians suffering due to the large amount of IEDs and landmines that were planted by different conflict parties in the province, and due to the unavailability of adequate support to remove them, and the lack of mines awareness-raising campaigns.
The Justice for Life organization issued in late 2017 a report entitled “ No Choices Left to Us” where it documented the death of 99 civilians between January 2016 and September 30th 2017. It also issued documentations for landmines victims.
The organization interviewed the witness Ali (pseudonym) who talked about his brother death by a landmine.
Ali says “ I fled with my family from Deir Ezzor city towards Al Kasra town due to the dire security conditions in the city, and due to the bap financial capacity I started working with my brother in selling cleaning materials”.
Concerning the planted landmines and IEDs in the destination area, Ali says “ By the beginning of the military actions between Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) and ISIS, and when SDF entered Al Jazrat in the countryside of Al Kasra, ISIS started planting landmines everywhere, even in the populated areas, including the water station, Al Harmoushia village, the town streets, and the school, along with camouflage them under stones and sidewalks”.
Ali narrates his brother death “ My 14-year-old brother was selling cleaning materials with other children nearby Al Kasra square in the northern entrance. They felt tired and had a break. My brother sat on a stone nearby the sidewalk, then it exploded immediately.”
The explosion resulted in death of Ali brother and injury of another child that led to amputation of his leg and arm.
Ali says “ We knew later that the explosion area has five IEDs. I applied complaint to ISIS, but they made no response. After short time, the populations expressed their anger due to the increasing number of death by IEDs, so ISIS removed them from the populated areas. They removed fifty IEDs from Al Kasra town only, and kept the IEDs planted in the distant areas”.
A woman, who was displaced from Al Mayadin city towards Al Kubar village in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor, narrates the injury of her child “ In the way back home, and specifically in the street of the graveyard, my child saw a can, and wanted to play with it, it exploded. He was hospitalized by one of the locals to the hospital of Al Kasra”.
Exclusive photo of the child after being injured by the IED explosion
The witness continues her testimony “ The explosion resulted in amputation of my child fingers. His father was killed by aerial bombardment. We fled the death towards another one”.
Exclusive photo of the exploded IED that resulted in the amputation of the child fingers
