Death of Two Brothers Due to Mine Explosion in Sardasht

A mine explosion in Sardasht, located in West Azerbaijan province, resulted in the death of two family members and injured another person. Ali Saadat, the village chief of Alavatan, stated in an interview with the local site 'Bolfat' that the incident occurred on Thursday (June 3). He added that the explosion happened while the victims were working with a tractor in the 'Dasht Vazineh' area, which hit a mine and caused the explosion. This official speculated that the mine might have been of the 'anti-tank' type, leading to the deaths of the two brothers. The website 'Kurd Press' identified the deceased brothers as 28-year-old Ali Shilan and 15-year-old Yaqoub Shilan. Another brother of the two is currently undergoing surgery in the hospital due to severe injuries. IRNA also confirmed the occurrence of this explosion through Ali Saadat, stating, 'The intensity of the explosion was such that the tractor was completely destroyed.' Sardasht County, with a population of 120,000, is located in southern West Azerbaijan and shares a border with Iraq. Mine explosions from a war that ended 27 years ago continue to make headlines in Iran. For instance, last April, five members of the border guard at the 'Seh Tapan' post in the Somar district of Kermanshah province lost their lives due to a mine explosion. According to initial statistics published in 1988, after the end of the Iran-Iraq war, 1,100 kilometers of the shared border between the two countries are contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance from the war. Five provinces in Iran, covering about 4.2 million hectares, are contaminated with at least 16 million mines, many of which have been neutralized or exploded in recent years. The Iranian government has begun efforts to clear these areas after the war, and according to military commanders, at least 130 soldiers have died in the process of these cleanups.