Five people were seriously injured in a mine explosion in the canton of Afrin-Shehba on Friday. According to security forces, the victims, who belong to the same family, are four adults between the ages of 20 and 50 and a two-year-old child. They suffered injuries of varying severity and are being treated at the Avrîn Hospital. According to the clinic, their condition is critical.

The detonation of the mine, which was allegedly left behind by ISIS, occurred on Friday in the town of Til Qerah, which is located in the district of Ehras, south of the city of Tel Rifat. The area is home to a number of refugee camps set up by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria for displaced persons from Afrin.

Explosions with a high mortality rate are a frequent occurrence in the Shehba region. The desert-like land has been heavily mined and booby-trapped by jihadists. It is not uncommon for the victims to be children and young people. A large part of the region east of Afrin, cut off from the outside world because the surrounding area is controlled by Syria, Turkey and pro-Turkish militias, was under ISIS occupation between 2013 and 2015. The situation became particularly dramatic in 2018, when hundreds of thousands of people fled from Afrin to Shehba after the Turkish invasion.

Since the liberation of Shehba by the YPG/YPJ, the Autonomous Administration’s Agriculture Committee has been able to clear large areas, especially residential and agricultural land, of ISIS remnants. However, further mine clearance projects are being hampered by continued attacks by Turkish occupation forces.