Unprotected Munitions Injure
Civilians In BasraHuman Rights Watch
7 May, 2003Civilians are being wounded by abandoned ordnance in Basra, Iraq, because British forces have failed to secure weapons caches, Human Rights Watch said today.
British civilian-military liaison officers have told Human Rights
Watch that they have no plans to provide security for these
sites. They said that they do not have sufficient troops in Basra
to guard abandoned munitions sites in addition to performing
their other duties."Exploding munitions are hurting people every day, especially
children," said Reuben Brigety II, researcher in the Arms
Division of Human Rights Watch. "British forces should
immediately secure these sites to stop these tragic accidents."The International Committee of the Red Cross has noted at least
thirty locations in Basra that contain abandoned munitions and
unexploded ordnance (UXO). Most of these weapons were abandoned by Iraqi forces, although some UXO were fired by coalition forces. None of these sites has been secured by the British forces occupying Basra. Civilians have been injured when
tampering with munitions abandoned there. Physicians in the
Basra teaching hospital, one of three main hospitals in Basra,
told Human Rights Watch that they have treated at least fifteen
civilians injured by abandoned munitions between April 11 and May 5.Sajad Kahazm, an 11-year-old boy, was badly injured on May 3 when he picked up an unexploded munition left inside his school, the Hadhramut Primary School. The munition exploded and severed his left hand. Jasim al-Malik, a physician's assistant at Basra General Hospital where the boy is being treated, said that the hospital gets five similar casualties a day, but not all survive.
The exact number of injuries due to unexploded ordnance in Basra is unknown.Human Rights Watch researchers visited one abandoned munition site near the old Basra airport. This site, about one square kilometer in area, contained at least twenty 1,100 cubic foot shipping containers, each overflowing with abandoned anti-
aircraft artillery shells, mortar bombs, rocket-propelled
grenades, Katyusha rockets and other munitions. Children were
tampering with the containers and their contents. Many shells had
been opened and their chemical contents removed. Chemical
propellants from assorted munitions covered dozens of square
meters of pavement, at least half the size of a tennis court.This site is less than 0.6 kilometer from the entrance of the
headquarters of the British First Fusilliers Battle Group. Like
all other abandoned munitions sites in Basra, the site remains
unguarded."Until these munitions are destroyed, the British must do more to
keep civilians away from them," said Brigety. "Otherwise, these
weapons will continue to harm innocent Iraqis."Children have been seen playing soccer in the Basra stadium, on a field that is ringed with unexploded ordnance.