BEIRUT, Lebanon: Mine-clearing organisation The Halo Trust on Sunday (Dec 15) called for a global effort to remove landmines and explosive ordnance from Syria, warning that thousands heading home after Bashar al-Assad’s ouster were particularly vulnerable.

After more than 13 years of grinding war, swathes of Syria are contaminated with munitions.

“An international effort to remove millions of cluster munitions, landmines and unexploded munitions is urgently needed to protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of returning Syrians and pave the way to sustainable peace,” Halo said in a statement.

“Returning Syrians simply don’t know where the landmines are lying in wait,” said Halo’s Syria programme manager Damian O’Brien, adding that such munitions “are scattered across fields, villages and towns, so people are horribly vulnerable”.

Islamist-led rebels launched a lightning offensive on Nov 27, sweeping control of swathes of the country and taking the capital Damascus on Dec 7.

“Tens of thousands of people are passing through heavily mined areas on a daily basis” after fighting forces “melted away from the front lines, leaving vast areas littered with explosives”, O’Brien said.

“Clearing the debris of war is fundamental to getting the country back on its feet,” he added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said three people from the same family were killed on Tuesday in a mine blast in the city of Palmyra “after a displaced family returned to inspect their home”.

The following day, it reported five civilians including a child were killed in mine blasts in central Hama province and eastern Deir Ezzor.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines monitor has reported 933 landmine casualties in Syria last year – the second highest in the world after Myanmar.

Syria’s White Helmets rescuers said on Saturday that its teams had removed “491 unexploded ordnance” between Nov 26 and Dec 12 alone.