Children Die in Land Mine Explosions

A research by the Human Rights Association (IHD) in Diyarbakir revealed that 24 people died and 45 people were injured from landmine explosions and other leftover explosives between the years 2002-2003.

The IHD report underlined that landmines especially cause the lives of civilians.

"Children are the most hurt from landmines and other explosives," said the report prepared for the year 2002. The report included the following information:

"The children play in fields where there are mines, and the state knows this"

* Ages of the 20 people who were hurt during explosions have not been determined. Thirty-seven of the remaining 49 were aged between 0-18 years. Eight were between the ages of 19-25, and four were over 25 years old.

* The victims of the explosions in the first four months of this year were children again. Ramazan Akpinar, 17, died while 16-year-old Zubeyir Agirman and Sait Agirman were injured in a landmine explosion in the Sivrice village of the southeastern province of Mardin.

* In March, 13-year-old Veysi Yarmagic from the southeastern province of Diyarbakir was seriously injured when a rocket missile he was playing with exploded.

* Another accident that claimed the lives of children took place in the Esenyamac village of the province of Van. On April 5, 14-year-old Destan Korkmaz, and 13-year-old Nihat Ceri, who were waiting on their sheep, lost their lives when a rocket missile fired from a nearby military region exploded.

* The deaths arise from children playing in fields close to military regions.

"Military officials should make an explanation"

* Landmines were embedded in rural areas randomly during wartime. There is not even a detailed map showing the mined areas.

* There is a large number of unexploded weapons thrown out in the fields in rural areas.

* The state is not cleaning up the embedded landmines because it still sees a war threat in the southeastern region. However, Turkey has recently signed an international agreement for cleaning up the mines.

* Military officials must find a solution to this problem as soon as possible, and make an explanation. Another fact that should be known is that a landmine is a weapon used only against civilians. (NK/BB/EA/NM)