STORY: In the countryside around Syria’s Aleppo, Heba Gadaa is clearing unexploded ordnance, or UXO.
Driven by the loss of a 9-year-old relative to an unexploded projectile in 2019, Gadaa a physics graduate, has spent the past three years raising awareness about war remnants.
Four months ago she began actively participating in the removal and destruction of UXO.
:: TRAILBLAZERS
Gadaa says her team – three men and two women – removes between 100 and 200 different types of war remnants every month, including shells, mines, fuses, and mortars.
Their work is supported by The Halo Trust, a non-governmental organization specializing in the removal of landmines and other explosive remnants of war.
And its taking place after the ouster of Bashir al-Assad in December 2024 ended a 14-year war that killed hundreds of thousands and left much of Syria in ruins.
Gadaa completed several training courses to prepare for the dangers of demining.
:: Heba Gadaa, Syrian deminer
“It is not a job, it is a humanitarian work. I must work to protect my family first, and protect people around me, and people who are now returning to their homes. With every return of a person to their home, we are being informed of a new remnant. The number of reports is very large – the ones we are receiving during the day – and we can’t keep up with them.”
DJ Kamal Mustafa
I’m DJ Kamal Mustafa, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of EMEA Tribune, a digital news platform that focuses on critical stories from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan. With a deep passion for investigative journalism, I’ve built a reputation for delivering exclusive, thought-provoking reports that highlight the region’s most pressing issues.
I’ve been a journalist for over 10 years, and I’m currently associated with EMEA Tribune, ARY News, Daily Times, Samaa TV, Minute Mirror, and many other media outlets. Throughout my career, I’ve remained committed to uncovering the truth and providing valuable insights that inform and engage the public.
