Two people were killed in an explosion in the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin on Saturday. The victims were a 35-year-old shepherd and an eight-year-old boy. The detonation occurred in a pasture area in the Sherawa district, not far from the village of Bênê, located about 25 kilometers southeast of Afrin. Around twenty sheep also died. A land mine is suspected to be the trigger.

It is not known whether the explosive device is a legacy of ISIS or whether the detonation was triggered by an explosive device of the Turkish occupation forces. According to available information, the names of the victims are Xelîl Behrî Hemade (35) and Behrî Mihemed (8). They are to be buried on Sunday.

The Sherawa district, which is not fully occupied by Turkey, borders the Shehba canton and is located in the southeast of the Afrin region, which was self-governed by Rojava under the canton principle until the Turkish occupation in spring 2018. Artillery from the Turkish jihadist invading forces regularly strikes there. The population is to be worn down and forced to flee by attacks and explosions from explosive devices deliberately placed in residential areas.

In other regions in the autonomous area of northern and eastern Syria, deadly detonations of landmines and improvised explosive devices also occur repeatedly. Death often lurks by the wayside, as ISIS has contaminated entire swaths of land with explosive weapons during their retreat from the region. Vast areas have already been cleared, but cleanup efforts are hampered by ongoing attacks by Turkey and its occupation militias.