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In the region of Mosul (Iraq), women are working to detect mines buried underground. A meticulous job to be done, years after the passage of the Islamic State in the region. Reporting.
In Makhmour (Iraq), concentration is at its maximum. Once the safety vests are worn, several women and a man listen attentively to their leader. Their mission: to safely demine the Mosul region, which is infested with thousands of mines laid by the Islamic State until 2017. “There is plenty of IED”, denounces Noor, leader of the demining team. Trained by the Swiss demining federation, these women can demine methodically and in safety. Spotted by the women, the machines will be demined by other people.
In the nearby town, this demining is important in order to allow the breeders to resume normal activity, as well as for the children, who can no longer go and have fun in the fields. For the “mokhtar”, the equivalent of the mayor, expectations are high. “We have lost entire herds, children have been injured. It has been five years since farmers have planted”, he explains to Noor. This dangerous activity, however, allows these women to earn a salary, in a country where only 13% of women are paid.