Al -Jazeera Net Correspondents
7/28/2025–|Last update: 12:37 (Mecca time)
North Syria – The rubble of the war in northern Syria is still a witness to years of fighting, and the suffering of the residents of that region is not limited to watching their destroyed cities, but rather extends to a hidden threat that monitors residents in every step.
In the homes of civilians, on the sides of the roads and inside the crowded displacement camps, the killing tools are hidden behind the engagement lines, to explode at an unexpected moment, leaving victims of women and children, and at the same time, the rescue teams that face increasing challenges amid weak capabilities.
During the recent weeks, Idlib Governorate witnessed a disturbing pace in the pace of the explosions resulting from these ammunition.
The seriousness of these accidents is exacerbated in the crowded camps and residential areas, where the fragility of the infrastructure, population density and poor awareness leads to the multiplication of the number of victims, and at the same time these areas lack effective mechanisms to deal with this threat.
Violent incidents
“Civil defense teams have responded from the beginning of the year until the end of July to 82 incidents caused by the remnants of the war, killing 76 civilians – including 20 children and 9 women – and the injury of 274 others, including 44 children and 4 women,” said the Syrian Civil Defense official, Sami Al -Muhammad.
Al -Muhammad added in an interview with Al -Jazeera Net that statistics only include incidents that inform the difference, while many incidents remain outside the scope of documentation due to the difficulty of arrival or the absence of reporting, stressing that munitions are usually stored or left in places close to civilians without taking into account safety standards, which increases the number of victims and highlights the need for urgent international intervention to remove these risks.
For his part, the Director of Civil Defense in Idlib, Ziad Al -Harkoush, warned of the continued danger to the rescue teams, noting that the repeated explosions expose them to severe risks, and hinder ambulance and rescue operations in light of the scarcity of resources and the lack of medical equipment.
Moments of terror
Ahmed, one of the survivors of the Termanin explosion, spoke to Al -Jazeera Net about the moments of horror, saying, “I was with my family inside the house when the explosion occurred, part of the neighboring building fell, and my neighbors were seriously injured, while I was bruised, the rescue teams arrived quickly, but the hospital was crowded, and not everyone received the necessary treatment.”
As for Fatima – a survivor from another explosion in Ma`rat Misrin on July 24 – she said, “I was walking with my daughter when the explosion took, smoke covered the place, and people shouted from every side, I was in my legs, and my daughter was slight burns, we were unable to reach the hospital easily because of the crowding and lack of ambulances.”
“I feel terrifying every day, I do not know if my home is safe or that there is a fatal surprise waiting for us, we need real solutions that put an end to this danger.”
Safety standards
In this context, the military expert specializing in ammunition and mines, Brigadier General Mohamed El -Khaled, believes that what is happening in the Syrian north is a direct result of neglecting safety standards in storing and transporting ammunition.
“Often these materials are stored in or neighboring residential areas, which doubles the risks,” Al -Khaled told Al -Jazeera Net.
He added, “We need national and international plans to remove mines, and provide equipped and trained teams, as well as imposing strict control over the storage of ammunition,” calling for an urgent technical and financial support to the bodies working on removing war waste and training local cadres.
For his part, Muhammad Al -Sharq, who is one of the engineering companies in the Syrian army, stressed the need to accelerate the removal of ammunition through international logistical and technical support.
“The ammunition should be stored in safe warehouses far from residential gatherings, with strict standards in censorship and inspection,” Al -Sharqah said.
Al -Sharqah stressed the importance of field awareness campaigns, especially in the displacement camps, where the residents lacking knowing how to deal with suspicious bodies, also calling for the support of hospitals and ambulances to be able to respond rapidly.
The danger of unexploded munitions remains a daily concern that threatens the lives of thousands of civilians in northern Syria, which requires an effective international move that is not limited to relief support, but also includes removing the root causes of this continuous threat.