US Announces New Assistance for Mine-Clearance in Ramadi

The U.S. Embassy announced new U.S. funding worth $5 million to assist in safely clearing explosive hazards in Ramadi, an essential first step to supporting Iraqi authorities as they repair key infrastructure and help displaced families return home.

The UN estimates thousands of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been left behind by Da’esh throughout the Ramadi. Under this new initiative, U.S. Embassy Baghdad and the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs have awarded a contract to Sterling International Group, LLC, one of the world’s leading demining companies.

Working in partnership with Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi, Anbar Governor al-Rawi, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), and the United Nations Development Program’s Funding Facility for Immediate Stabilization (FFIS), Sterling will begin initial efforts to survey unexploded ordnance, abandoned explosive ordnance, and IEDs in several Ramadi neighborhoods as well as the city’s main water station in Tamim.

Since 2003, the United States has invested more than $280 million under the U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction program toward the clearance and safe disposal of landmines, unexploded ordnance, and excess conventional weapons and munitions in Iraq.  This new initiative reaffirms our continued commitment to building a strong partnership with Iraq and the Iraqi people.

(Source: Embassy of the United States)