British bomb disposal expert killed in Iraq's Ramadi

A UK de-mining expert working for a private firm was killed and another injured in a blast in downtown Ramadi

2 min read

22 August, 2016

Ramadi was liberated earlier this year from Islamic State [AFP]

A British national working for a US company clearing ordnance in the Iraqi city of Ramadi was killed on Monday as he tried to defuse a bomb, officials said.

"We've just been made aware that there has been a British national killed in Ramadi," a British embassy spokesperson told AFP.

The mayor of Ramadi, which is the capital of the western Anbar province and was retaken by Iraqi forces from IS earlier this year, confirmed the incident.

"A contractor of British origin was killed and another wounded as they attempted to defuse an IED (improvised explosive device) in the Malaab neighborhood," Ibrahim al-Osej told AFP.

He did not specify the nationality of the wounded contractor.

The contract for clearing the thousands of improvised explosive devices and booby-traps the extremists left behind in Ramadi was awarded to US company Janus.

A senior Anbar police official also confirmed the incident but Janus would not immediately comment.

Rigging homes and planting bombs on roads was a key component of the system IS set up to defend the city, which lies about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad.

Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition airstrikes eventually retook Ramadi six months ago after a battle that completely emptied the city of its population and left it in ruins.

Massive mine-clearing operations need to be completed before the city's inhabitants can start returning and reconstruction efforts begin.

Earlier, the de-mining expert was mistakenly identified as a US citizen.

The US and UK have sent advisors and trainers to help Iraq in its war effort to reclaim territories captued by the Islamic State in 2014.

They have also been conducting airstrikes on IS positions in support of Iraqi government forces and Kurdish paramilitaries.

The extremist group seized vast swaths of Iraq, including several major cities, in its summer blitz that year.

An earlier version of this article had incorrectly identified the deceased bomb expert as American.