Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 30
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Five Iranian border guards were killed in a landmine explosion near the Iran-Iraq border, Brigadier General Jalal Setareh, deputy Commander of Iran's Border Guards said, Fars News Agency reported March 30.
The incident took place early in the morning of March 30 when a landmine remaining from Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) exploded in a road near the country's western borders, Setareh said.
The landmine was exposed to the road as a result of last night's precipitations, he said.
Iran is one of the countries in the world with the most unexploded landmines, which kill and injure dozens of people every year.
According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, there were 46 deaths and 76 injuries from landmines in Iran in 2012. Seven of the casualties were children.
Land areas in Iranian provinces of Ilam (1,700 hectares), Khuzestan (1.3 million hectares), Kermanshah (691,000 hectares ), Western Azerbaijan ( 59,000 hectares ) and Kurdistan ( 1,480 hectares ) were mined during the war.
It was assumed that after the war around 16 million mines could still remain in these areas.
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Edited by CN