Idlib, Syria
The BBCAigad never imagined that his dream of returning to his farmland could turn into a nightmare.
He fights back tears as he shows us a photo of his late father, smiling and surrounded by an abundance of olive trees on their land in Idlib province, northwestern Syria.
The photo was taken five years ago, a few months before forces linked to the former government took over their village, near the town of Saraqeb.
The city was a strategic stronghold for Syrian opposition factions for years before forces allied with the fallen regime of Bashar al-Assad launched an offensive against rebels in Idlib province in late 2019.
Hundreds of thousands of residents fled their homes as Assad's forces captured several other rebel strongholds in the northwest by early 2020.
Aygad and his father were among the displaced.
“We had to leave because of the fighting and the airstrikes,” Aygad says, tears filling his eyes. “My father refused to leave. He wanted to die in his land.”
Since then, father and son longed to return. And when opposition forces regained control of their village in November 2024, their dream was about to come true. But disaster soon struck.
“We went to our land to harvest olives,” Aygad explains. “We traveled in two different cars. My father took a different route back to our home in Idlib city. I warned him not to, but he insisted. His car hit a mine and blew up.”
Aygad's father died instantly on the spot. He not only lost his father that day, but also the main source of income for his family. Their farmland, spread over 100,000 square meters, was filled with 50-year-old olive trees. It is now designated as a dangerous minefield.
At least 144 people, including 27 children, have been killed by landmines and unexploded remnants of war since the Bashar al-Assad regime fell in early December, according to the Halo Trust, an international organization specializing in the disposal of landmines and other explosive devices. .
Syria's civil defense – known as the White Helmets – told the BBC that many of those killed were farmers and landowners trying to return to their land after the fall of the Assad regime.
Unexploded remnants of war pose a serious threat to life in Syria. They are mainly divided into two categories. The first are unexploded ordnance (UXO) such as cluster bombs, mortars and grenades.
Hassan Talfa, who leads the White Helmets team that disposes of unexploded ordnance in northwestern Syria, explains that these devices are less of a challenge to clear because they are usually visible above ground.
The White Helmets say that between November 27 and January 3, they defused about 822 UXOs in northwest Syria.
The bigger challenge, Mr Talfa says, lies in the second category of munitions – anti-personnel mines. He explains that the former government forces planted hundreds of thousands of them in various areas in Syria – mainly on agricultural land.
Most of the deaths recorded since the fall of the Assad regime have occurred on former combat front lines, according to the White Helmets. Most of those killed were men.
Mr. Talfa took us to two huge fields riddled with landmines. Our car followed his down a long, narrow and winding dirt road. This is the only safe way to reach the fields.
On the side of the road, children run around the area. Hassan tells us that they are from families that have recently returned. But the dangers of mines surround them.
As we get out of the car, he points to a barrier in the distance.
“It was the last point separating areas under the control of government forces from those held by opposition groups” in Idlib province, he told us.
He adds that Assad's forces have planted thousands of mines in the fields beyond the barrier to stop rebel forces from advancing.
The fields around where we are are once vital agricultural lands. Today they are all barren, with no visible greenery, except for the green tips of the anti-personnel mines that we can see with binoculars.
With no experience in disarming landmines, all the White Helmets can do for now is cordon off these fields and put up signs along their borders warning people to leave.
They also spray warning messages on the dirt barriers and houses around the edges of the fields. “Danger – Landmines Ahead,” they read.
They run campaigns to raise local awareness of the dangers of entering contaminated land.
On the way back we come across a farmer in his 30s who has recently returned. He tells us that some of the land belongs to his family.
“We couldn't recognize any of it,” says Mohammed. “We sowed wheat, barley, cumin and cotton. There is nothing we can do now. And until we can cultivate these lands, we will always be in bad economic shape,” he adds, clearly disappointed.
The White Helmets say they have identified and cordoned off about 117 minefields in just over a month.
They are not the only ones working to clear mines and unexploded ordnance, but there appears to be little coordination between the efforts of the various organizations.
There are no accurate statistics on areas contaminated by UXO or landmines. But international organizations such as the Halo Trust have produced rough maps.
Halo Syria program manager Damien O'Brien says a comprehensive survey needs to be done for the country to understand the extent of the contamination. He estimates that around one million devices would need to be destroyed to protect civilian lives in Syria.
“Any position of the Syrian army is very likely to have anti-personnel mines laid as a defensive technique,” says Mr O'Brien.
“In places like Homs and Hama, there are entire neighborhoods that have been almost completely destroyed. Anyone entering these structures to assess them, for demolition or for restoration, should be aware that there may be unexploded ordnance, whether it's bullets, cluster munitions, grenades, ordnance.”
BBC NewsThe White Helmets have stumbled upon a treasure that could aid mine clearance efforts. In their office in the city of Idlib, Mr Talfah shows us a stack of maps and documents left behind by government forces.
They show the locations, number and types of mines placed in various fields in northwestern Syria.
“We will hand over these documents to the authorities that will deal directly with landmines,” says Mr Talfa.
But the local expertise currently available in Syria does not appear to be sufficient to combat the serious dangers that unexploded ordnance poses to civilian life.
Mr O'Brien stressed that the international community must work together with the new government in Syria to improve expertise in the country.
“What we need from donors is funding so we can expand our capacity, which means hiring more people, buying more machinery and working in a wider area,” he says.
For Mr Talfa, disposing of unused munitions and raising awareness of their dangers has become a personal mission. Ten years ago, he lost his own leg while defusing a cluster bomb.
He says his injury and all the heartbreaking incidents he witnessed with children and civilians affected by UXO only fueled his tenacity to keep working.
“I never want any civilian or team member to go through what I have,” he says.
“I can't describe the feeling I get when I remove a danger that threatens the lives of civilians.
But until international and local efforts are coordinated to neutralize the danger of landmines, the lives of many civilians, especially children, remain at risk.