Quneitra- Abdullah al-Wanny
At the age of six, Siham Qassem al-Shaabneh did not realize that running instinctively after her mother would turn into a “marathon” of pain stretching across decades.
Her mother had rushed to the square to identify the bodies of the “martyrs of the October War,” including Siham’s father. But a landmine was waiting for that childhood, exploding beneath her small feet and turning her life into a journey of suffering that began with the amputation of her right leg and has not ended to this day.
Siham told Enab Baladi the details of the tragedy that marked her life with early disability, saying, “From that moment, my suffering began and has not ended, especially with the journey of fitting prosthetic limbs.”
“It took me between four and five years before I was able to adapt to the prosthetic limb, but the real torment lies in the constant travel to Damascus,” Siham added. The prosthetics hospital in the Barzeh area of Damascus has become an exhausting destination for her, as she is almost physically unable to move. This deprived her of completing her education, which stopped at the sixth grade.
Siham believes the absence of real support for her case and for others injured causes compounded psychological and social suffering, especially since most victims’ support families in harsh living conditions.
From Injury to Humanitarian Work
Siham’s story intersects in its chapters with that of Adel Mohammad al-Khaled, who was injured on 20 May 1988 by the explosion of a mine planted by the former regime’s army east of Khan Arnabeh (Quneitra, southwestern Syria).
Adel told Enab Baladi of what he described as a painful irony, as these mines were supposed to be on the first line of defense west of the town, but they had been planted in civilian areas to the east.
The incident killed one person and injured six others. Adel’s share was the complete loss of his sight.
“My life was turned upside down, and I entered a bad psychological state that lasted a year and a half,” Adel said.
But with support from a school friend, Adel regained his balance, married, built a house, and founded an association for the blind in 1997.
His ambition did not stop there. He completed his studies in the history department in 2007 and assumed the presidency of the Association of Landmine Victims in 2012.
Today, Adel is fighting a different kind of battle, recovering the association’s confiscated rights. He revealed that there was a prosthetics factory granted by Japan, but the security services seized all its equipment and prevented it from operating. The fate of that equipment remains unknown, while the association’s headquarters was seized and turned into staff housing.
A Cry for the Seized Prosthetics Factory
For his part, Maher Hammoud, head of the board of the General Association for the Rehabilitation and Care of Landmine Victims, highlighted the absence of institutional and service aspects.
Hammoud told Enab Baladi that Quneitra governorate records one of the highest rates of landmine injuries among Syrian governorates, given that it is an area of direct conflict with Israel, in addition to the remnants of successive wars.
Hammoud revealed a “sharp decline” in support. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent branch had assisted since 2014, but this support stopped completely two years ago.
Regarding the seized prosthetics factory, Hammoud explained that they searched for a long time for its location to return it to Quneitra, to ease the suffering of injured people who are forced to travel long distances to Damascus to obtain and maintain their prosthetic limbs.
Hammoud issued an appeal through Enab Baladi, calling on the Syrian government to return the factory and allocate financial support to the injured. He noted that the association, despite its limited capabilities, is trying to meet the needs of 245 registered injured people across the governorate from north to south, most of whom are heads of households in urgent need of care.
“Alarming” Statistics and Efforts for “Safe Spaces”
From 1987 until the current year, Syrian Arab Red Crescent statistics recorded 507 cases of victims and injured people from explosive objects, including 380 deaths and 127 permanent injuries, according to the head of the Red Crescent branch in Quneitra, Rabee Othman.
Othman told Enab Baladi that Red Crescent teams follow up with the injured and provide assistance in prosthetic limbs and psychological support through specialized programs.
Othman noted that the lack of knowledge about the dangers of explosive objects is the main reason behind most casualties, adding that the villages of Khan Arnabeh, Naba Alsakher, Hadar, Jabah, Hamidiyah town, and Rafid are the most affected.
To limit this phenomenon, the Humanitarian Action Team is working to designate “safe spaces” for children to play, including equipping the “City of Peace” park with games so it can become a refuge away from the danger of death buried underground.
At the national level, the numbers remain alarming, as rights reports document the continued fall of victims at high rates. The number of civilian deaths caused by mines and remnants of war since the fall of the regime until last March reached about 789 people, including 236 children.
International reports attribute this increase to civilians’ growing exposure to risks in areas of active conflict and abandoned depots.
The cry of Quneitra’s landmine victims remains suspended between demands for the rights of their confiscated associations and the urgent need for nearby medical and rehabilitation services that spare them the hardship of travel.