Hana Khider, an Ezidi deminer from Iraq, is leading an all-female team working to clear landmines and explosive traps left behind by ISIS.
In areas once devastated by ISIS, Khider and her team move through damaged buildings, empty fields and ruined villages searching for hidden explosives. Their work is among the most dangerous humanitarian tasks in post-ISIS Iraq. A single mistake can cost lives. The team’s mission is featured in Into the Fire, a short documentary connected to the legacy of the Nobel Peace Prize. The film shows how the danger of ISIS did not end when the group lost territorial control. Years later, explosives hidden in homes, roads, farmland and public spaces continue to threaten families who want to return and rebuild their lives.
The 2014 genocide in Shengal left thousands killed, kidnapped, enslaved and displaced. Many villages were destroyed, and even after liberation, the land remained dangerous. Mines and improvised explosive devices became another barrier preventing Ezidis from returning safely to their homes. Khider and her team are helping remove that barrier. With metal detectors and protective equipment, they search carefully through places where ordinary life once existed. Each cleared area means that a road can be used again, a field can be farmed again, and a family can move without the same fear of death beneath their feet.
The fact that the team is made up of Ezidi women gives the mission particular strength. In a region where Ezidi women suffered some of the worst crimes committed by ISIS, these women are now taking part in the dangerous work of reclaiming land from the legacy of terror.
Khider works with the Mines Advisory Group, an organisation linked to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for its global efforts against anti-personnel mines. Into the Fire presents her work not only as a story of demining, but as a story of survival, return and responsibility. In places where ISIS tried to leave behind fear even after its defeat, Hana Khider and her team are helping restore safety and hope.
The full short documentary, Into the Fire, can be watched here.
