Idlib, Syria
Ayghad never thought that his dream of returning to his farm could turn into a nightmare.
He fights back tears as he shows us a picture of his late father, smiling and surrounded by lush olive trees in their land in Idlib province, northwestern Syria.
The picture was taken five years ago, a few months before forces linked to the former government took over their village, near the town of Saraqeb.
The city was a strategic stronghold for Syrian opposition factions for years, before forces allied with the fallen regime of Bashar al-Assad launched an offensive against rebels in Idlib province in late 2019.
Hundreds of thousands of residents fled their homes, while Assad’s forces captured several other rebel strongholds in the northwest by early 2020.
Ayghad and his father were among the displaced.
“We had to leave because of the fighting and the airstrikes,” says Ayghad, tears filling his eyes. “My father refused to leave. He wanted to die in his country.”
Father and son have longed to return ever since. And when opposition forces regained control of their village in November 2024, their dream was about to come true. But disaster soon struck.
“We went to our land to pick olives,” explains Ayghad. “We went in two separate cars. My father took a different route back to our house in the city of Idlib. I warned him not to do that, but he insisted. His car ran into a land mine and exploded.”
Ayghad’s father died instantly on the spot. Not only did he lose his father that day, but he also lost his family’s main source of income. Their agricultural land, which covers 100,000 square meters, was filled with 50-year-old olive trees. It is now marked as a dangerous minefield.
At least 144 people, including 27 children, have been killed by mines and unexploded remnants of war since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in early December, according to the Halo Trust, an international organization specializing in the clearance of mines and other explosive devices.
The Syrian Civil Defense – known as the White Helmets – told the BBC that many of those killed were farmers and landowners trying to return to their land after the Assad regime fell.
Unexploded remnants of war pose a serious threat to life in Syria. They are mainly divided into two categories. The first are unexploded ordnance (UXO) such as cluster bombs, mortars and grenades.
Hassan Talfah, who leads a White Helmets team clearing UXO in northwestern Syria, explains that these devices are less difficult to remove because they are usually visible above ground.
The White Helmets say they cleared about 822 UXO between November 27 and January 3 in northwestern Syria.
The bigger challenge, says Mr. Talfah, lies in another category of munitions – landmines. He explains that the former government forces planted hundreds of thousands of them across various areas in Syria – mostly on agricultural land.
Most of the deaths recorded since the fall of the Assad regime have occurred on former battle lines, according to the White Helmets. Most of those killed were men.
Mr. Talfah led us to two huge fields riddled with mines. Our car followed his on a long, narrow and winding dirt road. It is the only safe way to reach the field.
Along the sides of the road, children run around. Hassan tells us that they are from a family that recently returned. But they are surrounded by the dangers of mines.
As we get out of the car, he points to a barrier in the distance.
“This was the last point separating areas controlled by government forces from those held by opposition groups” in Idlib province, he tells us.
He adds that Assad’s forces have planted thousands of mines in the fields behind the barrier, to stop rebel forces from advancing.
The fields around where we are are once vital arable lands. Today, they are all barren, without any greenery except for the green tips of the landmines that we can see with binoculars.
Without demining expertise, all the White Helmets can do for now is cordon off those fields and post signs along their borders warning people to leave.
They also spray warning messages on the earth and house barriers around the field edges. “Danger – mines ahead,” they read.
They run campaigns to raise awareness among the local population about the dangers of entering contaminated land.
On the way back, we meet a farmer in his 30s who has recently returned. He tells us that part of the land belongs to his family.
“We couldn’t recognize any of it,” says Mohammed. “We used to plant wheat, barley, cumin and cotton. Now we can’t do anything. And as long as we can’t cultivate these lands, we will always be in a bad economic state,” he adds, clearly frustrated.
The White Helmets say they have identified and cordoned off around 117 minefields in just over a month.
They are not the only ones working to clear mines and UXO, but there seems to be little coordination between the efforts of different organizations.
There are no accurate statistics for areas contaminated by UXO or mines. But international organisations, such as the Halo Trust, have produced approximate maps.
Halo Syria program manager Damian O’Brien says a comprehensive survey needs to be carried out for the country to understand the extent of the contamination. He estimates that around one million devices would need to be destroyed to protect civilian lives in Syria.
“Every Syrian army position is likely to have mines placed around it as a defensive technique,” says Mr O’Brien.
“In places like Homs and Hama, there are entire neighborhoods that have been almost completely destroyed. Anyone going into these structures to assess them, to demolish or rebuild, must be aware that there may be unexploded ordnance there, whether about bullets, cluster munitions, shells, grenades.”
The White Helmets have come across a treasure that could help clear the mines. In their office in the city of Idlib, Mr. Talfah shows us a stack of maps and documents left behind by government forces.
They show the locations, numbers and types of mines placed in various fields across northwestern Syria.
“We will submit these documents to the authorities that will deal directly with the mines,” says Mr. Talfah.
But the local expertise currently available in Syria does not appear to be sufficient to combat the serious dangers posed by unexploded ordnance to civilian life.
Mr O’Brien stressed that the international community should work together with the new government in Syria to improve expertise in the country.
What we need from donors are funds, so that we can expand our capacities, which means hiring more people, buying more machines and working in a wider area, he says.
For Mr. Talfah, clearing UXO and raising awareness of their danger has become a personal mission. Ten years ago, he lost his own leg while destroying a cluster bomb.
He says his injury and all the heartbreaking incidents he witnessed with children and civilians affected by UXO only fueled his determination to keep working.
“I never want any civilian or team member to go through what I have,” he says.
“I can’t describe the feeling I get when I eliminate a threat to civilian lives.”
But until international and local efforts are coordinated to neutralize the threat of landmines, the lives of many civilians, especially children, remain at risk.
