Mahmoud, 14, from Aleppo Governorate in northwest Syria, suffers from loneliness after his right hand was amputated as a result of the explosion of a war remnant while grazing sheep.
Mahmoud’s family, parents and six siblings who are from the village of Tel al-Daman in the south of Aleppo, have no sheep but they graze the sheep of all the families and graze them in the areas surrounding the village to make a living.
Mahmoud told North Press that he just wanted to throw away the “metal piece” [landmine] to protect the sheep. However, the landmine exploded and led to the amputation of his right hand, a shock and challenge that the boy could not tolerate.
After the injury, his family could not provide a prosthetic limb for him due to its high cost, the matter negatively impacted his psychology.
Even the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) his family asked for assistance could not help because most of them only deal with lower limbs, making Mahmoud’s situation more miserable and difficult.
War remnants in Syria is are the most dangerous impacts of the decade-long conflict. The war parties, mainly the Islamic State group (ISIS), deliberately planted landmines and explosive devices within civilians’ areas to protect themselves from the other parties.
Local medical sources in the region told North Press that the agricultural lands need to be demined by the competent authorities because they have become a significant threat to the people, mainly the children.
Wafaa al-Alo, a surgeon who has worked in collaboration with the SOS Organization for the care and protection of children at risk of losing family care in the region since 2016, said that over the past five years, more than 2,000 children have been injured due to reasons resulting from military operations in rural areas.
Al-Alo told North Press that many of the injured children did not receive a family care due to the dire economic conditions of their families, including those who are disabled and need prosthetic limbs to cope with their current situations, including limb amputations and injuries such as loss of sight and hearing.
War remnants pose a serious threat to the lives of children in Syria in general and in the southern countryside of Aleppo in particular. And demining is one of the longest post-war operations that take time.
The Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press recorded the killing of 288 individuals and the injury of 255 others due to war remnants in Syria in the first half of 2023, 70 percent of them were civilians.
Hisham Suloqjah, 40, a resident of the Huber village in the southern countryside of Aleppo, describes the injury of his niece, Noura, a nine-year-old girl, as a catastrophic situation. Noura is an orphan living with her elderly grandmother and uncle’s family.
“The scene was terrible when she suffered a leg amputation three months ago while playing near their house due to a landmine explosion. Other children also experienced various injuries,” Suloqjah told North Press.
He asked the government’s security authority in Tel al-Daman for help to clear the area of mines, but they asked him to pay 25 million Syrian pounds (SYP, nearly $1,725) so that the specialized engineering units could carry out their mission.
When he inquired about the reason for such payment, he was told that the area was safe, and the mine issue has been addressed. “Resuming work incurs high costs for transportation and clearing operations in the open agricultural areas,” they told him.
