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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFSD deminers have worked tirelessly for the past four years to help rid Iraq of improvised mines and other explosive ordnance, deadly remnants of ISIS\u2019s occupation of part of the country and of the fighting that preceded liberation. Every square meter of land must be carefully examined, and every mine encountered must be carefully defused and transported to a secure site for demolition. strenuous but essential task to allow the safe return of displaced Iraqis. It is therefore with immense gratitude that FSD welcomed QoQa\u2019s support, hastening the success of this essential work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Considering various factors, including the suspected degree of contamination and the number of people affected, our experts chose to use these funds in the village of Nasr, located in a strategic area south-east of the city of Mosul. Occupied between 2014 and 2016 by Islamic State forces, Nasr was on the front line in the bitter battle between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga on one side, and jihadists on the other. \u201cThey laid the mines at night, sometimes without lighting, so that no one would know where the explosives were, explains Peter Smethers, program manager for FSD in Iraq. They used the \u00a0most effective methods to slow down and deter the Iraqi and Kurdish forces, and very effectively alternated \u00a0asymmetric methods such as the use of improvised \u00a0mines with high-tech approaches using drones and 3D printed bombs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The villagers who remained risked their lives every day by walking the roads, taking their goats and sheep to pasture or by plowing the wheat fields. Explosive devices were even found on the way to the school, 150 meters from the buildings. Sometimes children themselves helped our deminers determine which areas were contaminated, because they had seen improvised mines while playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The whole village of Nasr is now secure. About a hundred families have already been able to return home and start to resume normal life, as QoQa employees saw during their on-site visit<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another huge thank you to QoQa and its members for their kind support<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2019-0307-FSD-IQ-HD-conflict-affected-area-Damaged-building-in-Nasr02-1024x768.jpg\")
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