A boy, identified as Hamza Habib al-Hassam al-Amyan, died on January 25, 2024, of wounds sustained about a month before on December 26, 2023, when a landmine whose source we have not yet been able to identify exploded while he was playing with a group of other children in his home village of al-Jarthi in eastern rural Deir Ez-Zour governorate. After he was injured, Hamza was transferred to a Damascus hospital where he subsequently died. The area is under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) is still trying to locate eyewitnesses to obtain more information about the incident.
We call on the controlling forces to uphold their responsibilities for protecting civilians in areas under their control, and to locate and remove landmines planted in these areas. We have documented hundreds of deaths and injuries resulting from landmine explosions, which pose a serious, long-term threat, especially to children, that will last for years to come.
