Halgurd-Sakran National Park

The Explosive Battle to Build an Iraqi National Park

Amid land mines, militants, and air strikes, conservationists are trying to carve out a protected area in the war-torn country. Can they succeed?

Photograph by Alexandra Rose Howland, National Geographic

CHOMAN, IRAQ – If Grmandil mountain were a ship, it might have sunk under its weight of land mines.

Big ones, small ones, tank killers, and devices designed to maim not murder, they dot the steep, rocky flanks like deadly toadstools. High up, near the cloud-covered summit, tons of munitions lie dormant under the snow, ready to strike again come spring.

No one hikes here. Few animals roam. It’s such a perfect death trap that even seasoned mine disposal specialists, no shrinking violets, give the peak a wide berth.

“Mines here, mines there, and probably more mines there,” said Mam Rasool, gesturing left, right, and straight ahead. “It’s not a good place.”

He should know. He’s down to one leg and only part of

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