In northern Iraq, Hana Khider walks through ruined buildings and empty fields searching for hidden explosives left behind by ISIS. The Yazidi deminer leads an all-female team clearing landmines and booby traps from villages destroyed during the war. Every mission carries enormous risk, as even a single mistake can trigger a deadly explosion. Khider’s work was recently featured in Into the Fire, a short documentary shared by the The Nobel Prize and produced with Grain Media. The film is part of a five-part series showing how Nobel Peace Prize-linked efforts continue to affect lives years later.
Hana Khider’s landmine-clearing mission was born from tragedy
Khider belongs to Iraq’s Yazidi minority, a community that suffered devastating violence during ISIS’s assault on Sinjar and nearby regions in 2014. Thousands of Yazidis were killed, displaced or kidnapped as ISIS fighters captured villages across northern Iraq. Even after the militant group lost territorial control, the danger did not disappear.Explosives hidden inside homes, schools, farmland and roads continued to threaten families attempting to return. For many communities, rebuilding could not begin until the mines were removed.That is where Khider and her team stepped in.The documentary shows Khider and her colleagues carefully scanning the ground with metal detectors while moving through damaged neighbourhoods. The women inspect collapsed buildings, dusty pathways and empty fields where explosives may still be buried beneath the surface.Many of the devices are improvised explosive traps deliberately planted by ISIS fighters. Others include landmines or hidden ammunition left behind during fighting. The work requires extreme patience and precision because one wrong movement could be fatal.In the film, Khider speaks about how life changed after ISIS entered the region. She recalls once caring for a peaceful garden before war transformed her surroundings into a deadly landscape filled with explosives.
Why the all-female team
The demining team carries symbolic importance beyond the dangerous work itself. Many Yazidi women endured severe trauma during the ISIS conflict, including forced displacement and violence. By taking on one of the world’s most hazardous professions, these women are helping reclaim control over land once dominated by fear.Their work also directly affects displaced families hoping to return home. Clearing explosives allows children to play safely again, farmers to work their land and communities to slowly rebuild daily life.The documentary highlights these emotional stakes by showing local children near newly cleared areas, underscoring how demining is tied to restoring a sense of normalcy.
The Nobel Prize connection
Into the Fire links Khider’s mission to the broader humanitarian legacy of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for its efforts to eliminate anti-personnel mines worldwide.Rather than focusing only on political agreements, the documentary series explores how Nobel-linked work continues decades later through people on the ground risking their lives for others. Khider’s story reflects the long-term consequences of war and the continuing dangers civilians face long after combat ends.
Restoring hope in post-ISIS Iraq
For Khider, demining is about more than removing explosives. It is about giving people the chance to return home without fear. Each device safely cleared represents another piece of land reclaimed from violence.The film portrays her as a deminer working to rebuild communities shattered by conflict. In places where ISIS once spread terror, Hana Khider and her team are helping restore safety, recovery and hope.
