The stunning landscape where one wrong step can kill

It is early morning in northern Iraq, and already the heat is relentless.

Just weeks ago, these rolling hills were covered in green. But recently the sun has bleached them yellow and exposed the rocky, uneven surface beneath. It is among this oppressively beautiful landscape that men and women dressed in thick body armour and visors carefully pick their way through fields searching for landmines.

It’s a strange sight that seems at odds with this vast and peaceful scene. But amid the dusty grass stretch lines of wooden markers topped with skulls and crossbones in bright red triangles, warning any visitors of the deadly explosives that lie beneath.

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This minefield near the village of Sarbalkha is being cleared by teams from Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a Manchester-based charity who make safe and remove landmines and unexploded ordnance from previous conflict zones around the world.

Sarbalkha lies just 15 kilometres from the Iranian border, and is littered with landmines leftover from the brutal conflict between the two countries during the 1980s. The land is highly contaminated - MAG teams have been here for a year and a half and have found 232 landmines. They estimate they are just 39 per cent of the way through necessary clearance.

Unexploded mines have been left in the ground not just here, but right along the Iran-Iraq border. Most villagers fled their homes during the bloodshed, and returned to find their land transformed into a death trap that has since been responsible for 11,000 fatalities and at least 48,000 injuries.

It’s a place where children are taught about the dangers of landmines through specially designed