On Sunday, June 1, 2025, two children were killed and a third was seriously injured. All were from the same family and residents of the town of Mahkan in the eastern countryside of Deir Ez-Zour Governorate. A landmine exploded while they were grazing sheep near the town of Al-Marei’iyah, east of Deir Ez-Zour Governorate. The area was under the control of the transitional government at the time of the incident.
According to what the Syrian Network for Human Rights documented through reliable local sources, the explosion resulted in the death of the child Suleiman Saleh al-Muhammad al-Ali al-Falah and the child Yamama Ahmad al-Muhammad al-Ali al-Falah, and the serious injury of the child Omar Ahmad al-Muhammad al-Ali al-Falah.
This area is among the sites that have witnessed changes in control between the parties to the conflict, making it extremely difficult to determine exactly who planted the mine.
Legal Conclusions:
The mine explosion that killed two children and injured a third while they were engaged in a peaceful civilian activity (herding sheep) is an example of how the effects of conflict continue to threaten the lives of civilians.
The continued presence of landmines in populated areas or close to civilian activity, without their removal or warning to the population, constitutes a violation of positive protection obligations under international humanitarian law, particularly Article 10 of the Amended Protocol to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) on Mines, Booby-Traps, and Improvised Explosive Devices.
The failure of the controlling parties to provide mine maps or place clear warning signs exposes civilians to death or injury and constitutes a violation of the duty to warn and inform stipulated in international humanitarian law.
The inability to identify the party that planted the mine raises the issue of impunity, which requires an independent investigation and underscores the need for comprehensive documentation of remnants of war and contamination sites to avoid recurring incidents.
The continued presence of mines in civilian areas constitutes a threat to the right to life and physical integrity.
Recommendations by SNHR
- Open an urgent investigation into the incident to determine which parties to the conflict planted mines in the area and hold the responsible party legally responsible for negligence or deliberate action.
- Accelerate land mine clearance operations, particularly in agricultural and pastoral areas close to population centers, in cooperation with international organizations such as the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and the Syrian Civil Defense.
- Prepare comprehensive and updated maps of mines and explosive remnants of war and disseminate them at the local level, with clear warning signs in all suspected areas, particularly those under the effective control of forces on the ground.
- Implement comprehensive local awareness campaigns targeting residents of rural areas and camps on the dangers of mines and how to identify and avoid them, in cooperation with civil society organizations.
- Provide direct support to the families of victims through urgent financial compensation, psychosocial support, and inclusion in programs to assist victims of explosive remnants of war.
