An Iraqi man makes $1,700 a month helping dig up and disable thousands of bombs that are still buried in Iraq after the war with ISIS

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Sarah Al-Arshani,Selima HussainJan 26, 2023, 03:33 IST
An Iraqi man makes $1,700 a month helping dig up and disable thousands of bombs that are still buried in Iraq after the war with ISIS

Thousands of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are still buried in Iraq after the war with ISIS.Meethak Al Khatib/Insider

  • At its height in 2014, ISIS planted many IEDs across Iraq but mostly in and around Mosul.
  • The homemade explosive devices can be set off by the slightest touch or movement.
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As the militant group ISIS tried to take over Iraq in 2014, they left behind IEDs.

As the militant group ISIS tried to take over Iraq in 2014, they left behind IEDs.
A member of the Iraqi Civil Defence Unit holds an Improvised Explosive Device disarmed June 24, 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq. The units are dealing with over 150 Improvised Explosive Devices every week and yet have no protection or adequate equipment for this hazardous duty. All of the members of the I.C.D.U. wish to remain anonymous. This is due to threats against them and their families for what the resistance views as collaboration with the Coalition forces. As the handover approaches in Iraq, unpredictable bombings are responsible for a great deal of fear and apprehension amongst the Iraqi population.(Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

The prominence of these improvised explosive devices around Iraq has meant that highly trained deminers are now going around searching for and dismantling thousands of IEDS.

"Our job has a saying that goes, "There's no room for mistakes to happen twice. Because the first mistake will be death," Falah Hassan, a reminder, told Insider.

ISIS planted a majority of the IEDs almost a decade ago

ISIS planted a majority of the IEDs almost a decade ago
Falah Hassan digs up an IED.Meethak Al Khatib/Insider

Hassan told Insider that most of these IEDs were planted by ISIS in 2014. At their height, the militant group controlled as much as 40% of Iraq.

The majority of IEDs have been found in and around Mosul, which ISIS had once deemed its capitol.

"This was to prevent the [Iraqi] army from advancing during military operations and also to prevent civilians and residents from leaving the city of Mosul," Hassan said.

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Insider followed Hassan and his team as they demined a site in several miles outside of Mosul.

Insider followed Hassan and his team as they demined a site in several miles outside of Mosul.
Falah Hassan enrolled in the Basmaya School in Baghdad to become a deminer instead of a high school teacher. He'd initially studied Arabic literature in college.Meethak Al Khatib/Insider

The team met at a base where local NGO groups that specialize in demining met before driving to the village of Abzakh, about 240 miles north of Baghdad.

The team starts by searching for the precise location of an IED with metal detectors.

The team starts by searching for the precise location of an IED with metal detectors.
Falah Hassan uses a metal detector to find IEDs.Meethak Al Khatib/Insider

Hassan told Insider that the equipment used in the search and stabilization efforts is "heavy," and affects workers' bodies.

But beyond that workers risk accidentally detonating the devices that are typically buried underground and can detonate by the slightest touch.

"IEDs can be detonated in three different ways. First, by a timer, and second, by an initiated order — by a wire or wirelessly using a phone. Third and last is by the victims themselves, either by pressure or movement," Hassan said.

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The process requires precision and steadiness

The process requires precision and steadiness
Explosive remnants of war in a bombed-out IED factory in East Mosul.Noe Falk Nielsen/NurPhoto via Getty Images

IEDs typically have a detonator, a battery, a main charge, and a pressure plate that acts as a switch. While some may be covered in plastics, others are metal which could also turn into shrapnel is the device explodes.

"The digging process is very, very scary and very hard. It requires steadiness and self-confidence in order to do it," Hassan said.

Even if a device doesn't have an obvious switch, it's usually loaded with chemicals that make it just as likely to explode, or worse, the switch could be hidden.

IEDs have killed more than 50,000 people over the past 10 years.

Hassan makes $1,700 a month doing this.

Hassan makes $1,700 a month doing this.
Iraqi Special Operation Forces (ISOF) soldiers in the Islamic State occupied Old City district where heavy fighting continues on July 8, 2017 in Mosul, Iraq. Iraqi forces continue to encounter stiff resistance from Islamic State with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), suicide bombers, heavy mortar fire, gas attacks and snipers hampering their advance.(Photo by Martyn Aim/Corbis via Getty Images)

Despite the risks, Hassan sees a lot of reward in his job, which sometimes includes disassembling 15 IEDs a day in the blazing heat of the Iraqi desert.

"I can see my achievements right away. But, if I were a teacher, I would have to wait an entire year to see the results of my teaching on the students. The energy I get here is linked to being a humanitarian," he told Insider.

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