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Abstract:
Increase incidences of
antipersonnel landmine
injuries among the villagers in Kurdistan
is one of the mjor problems which has
not been solved yet.
Between March 1991 and March 1993, 103
injured persons had been treated due to
mine explosions in Dohuk. They were seen
in the first surgical unit, Dohuk Azadi
teaching hospital, and 34 of them died.
Most of the injuries were among the 20
-30 year old age-group. The mortality
rate was 33 % and most of the people who
survived have more than 30% disability.
The aims of this study are to show the
magnitude of this problem and its dangerous
consequences on the life and the way of
living of our people and to stimulate
the government, the united nations, and
non-governmental organizations to enhance
the de-mining project and to clean the
region from mines.
 Introduction:
The use of antipersonnel landmines started
during the second world war .Currently,
million of landmines are deployed in 70
countries.
Hundreds of thousands of antipersonnel
mines have been implanted in the mountains,
roads, and borders of the Iraqi- Kurdistan
region. In the last 38 years those landmines have killed and injured many people
in the region. These landmine deaths increased
after the Gulf War and during the return
of the villagers to their villages and
original homes. These deaths are a daily
occurrence.
Dohuk Governorate is one of the Iraqi
Kurdish regions near to Turkish, Syria
international borderland. It falls between
parallel line 36.4 and 37.2
Its surface area is 10,715 square kilometer
with a population of 750, 000 people and
over 1180 villages.
Dohuk Azadi Teaching Hospital is the only
central hospital in the region. It has
three surgical units and most accidents
and emergencies are referred here.
This study only analyzed the cases which
were referred and managed in the first
surgical unit between March 1991 and March
1993.
Materials and Methods:
All victims and injured persons due to
explosions of antipersonnel landmines who
were received, admitted, and managed in
the first surgical unit at Azadi Teaching
Hospital , Dohuk Governorate, between
March 1991 and March 1993 were included
in our study. Victims who arrived dead
or died in the hospital were referred
to the forensic medicine department.
Detailed information regarding time ,
place, and how the accident occurred were
taken from every patient who claimed to
have been injured by a mine. Cases in
which patients were unable to give an
interview regarding the accident, relatives
or companions of the victims were interviewed
and data recorded.
Survivors were referred to special medical
committees to re-evaluate them and to
estimate the degree of disability. Handicap
victims were referred to the rehabilitation
and prosthetic department.
Results:
A total of 103 victims due to landmine
explosions were received in the first
surgical unit .Thirty-four of them arrived
dead or died in the hospital and sixty-nine
patients were admitted , managed successfully,
and then discharged. The estimated mortality
rate was 33% .
If we regard children age to be between
0 -15 years of age, 13 children were injured
and 9 died. The mortality rate was 69%
The male to female ratio was 1/1.5 and
the incidence was highest among age group
20-30 years as shown in figure 1.
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Fig.1 Age Distribution
of Victims
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Tables 1 & 2 show the victims jobs
and activities at the time of the accident.
Most of the injuries occurred in March
1991 as shown in figure 2 and in the morning
hours as reflected in figure 3.
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Vicitms Jobs
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Number
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Farmer
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53
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Student
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19
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Military
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14
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Housewife
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5
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Driver
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3
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Sheeperder
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3
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Businessmen
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2
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Policeman
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2
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Wood collector
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5
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Dresser
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1
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Table 1
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Victims Activity
During Accident
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No: of Victims
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Wood collecting
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30
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Immigration toward Turkish border
in March 1991
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20
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Farming
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20
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Soldier
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12
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Carpenter
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7
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Picnic and visiting between village
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8
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Sheeperder
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3
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Fishing
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3
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Table 2
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Fig.2 Incidence of
Landmine Injury
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Fig.3 Distribution
of Injuries during day time
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Fatal wounds were seen in 34 victims.
Of the 103 victims, 88 of them now have
partial or complete amputation of which
44 were below the knee amputations. Head
and eye injuries were the least among
the casualties as shown in table 3.
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Type of Injury
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No:
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Fatal wounds (amputation, burst
abdomen, head injury, died)
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34
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Amputation of one leg below the
knee
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44
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Amputation of one leg above the
knee
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2
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Amputation of one foot
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9
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Amputation of toes
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2
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Multiple shells wounding both legs
and foot
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7
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Amputation of both arms
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1
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Head and eyes injury
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2
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Amputation of the hand
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2
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Table 3
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Figure 4 shows the degree of disability
( > 33% ) .
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Fig.4 Percentage of
Disability
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Discussion:
Clearing a single mine can cost up to
$1000 .Many countries cannot afford this
cost for clearance of mines and so , rely
on the international community.( 13) .
Finally, this preliminary study shows
that de-mining of the Kurdistan region
by current de-mining programs means that
decades and millions of dollars are required
before the anti- personnel landmines are
cleared from this region.
We expect to have thousands of Kurdish
civilian victims including handicaps before
this de-mining process is accomplished.
We hope that the regional government,
the international community, and non-governmental
organizations would take this problem
into serious consideration and clear the
region of landmines as soon as possible.
We sincerely hope that this paper will
increase world-wide awareness of the world-wide
epidemic of anti-personnel landmine injuries.
References:
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