More than four months after Syria’s civil war ended with the fall of Bashar Assad on December 8, 2024, the country remains haunted by a hidden threat, land mines and unexploded remnants of war.
These devices have killed at least 249 people and injured 379 more, including 60 children, since the conflict officially ceased, according to data shared by the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO).
Suleiman Khalil, 21, from Qaminas village in southern Idlib, is one such victim. While harvesting olives with two friends, Khalil stepped on a mine. “At first, I thought I’d died. I didn’t think I would survive this,” he told AP. His left leg was wounded in the first blast, and his right leg was blown off above the knee in a second explosion as he tried to crawl away. Alone and in pain, he used his shirt to tie off the bleeding and screamed until a soldier found him.
Khalil now dreams of a prosthetic limb so he can return to work and support his family.
Land mines and explosive remnants were extensively used by all sides during the 13-year war and now contaminate large swathes of land, particularly in former front-line areas like rural Idlib.
Their presence has surged as people return to these areas after the fall of the Assad regime, reported AP, citing a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report.
“Without urgent, nationwide clearance efforts, more civilians returning home to reclaim critical rights, lives, livelihoods and land will be injured and killed,” warned Richard Weir, senior researcher at HRW.
Experts estimate that tens of thousands of mines remain buried and the true scale of contamination is still unknown. “We don’t even have an exact number. It will take ages to clear them all,” said Ahmad Jomaa, a demining team member with Syria’s defence ministry.
The mines pose daily risks for farmers who rely on agriculture as their main income. In one recent case, a tractor hit a mine, leaving workers seriously injured. Jomaa’s team started work after Assad’s fall, but faced severe shortages of equipment. “We’ve had 15 to 20 (deminers) lose limbs, and around a dozen of our brothers were killed doing this job,” news agency AP quoted Jomaa.
The psychological trauma caused by these explosives is profound. Jalal al-Maarouf, a 22-year-old shepherd from rural Idlib, lost his leg three days after the Assad government fell. He is now on a waiting list for a prosthetic limb. “As you can see, I can’t walk,” he said.
A prosthetic limb costs over $3,000, far beyond the means of most survivors.
The mines were planted over the years by Syrian forces, their allies and opposition groups. But after recapturing areas, the Assad government made minimal effort to clear them. Now, it is volunteer teams and former fighters like Mohammad Sweid, 39, who risk their lives clearing mines. Mohammad died in January while defusing a mine that exploded. “Every day someone is dying,” his brother Salah said, standing by his grave.
HRW has called on Syria’s transitional government to create a civilian-led mine action authority in coordination with the UN Mine Action Service to scale up clearance efforts.
For now, the fields remain littered with danger, as silent and hidden threats waiting to claim more lives.
