On a cloudy autumn morning, Reem al-Rahmoun carefully puts on her blue uniform, tightly fastens her helmet strap, and picks up her heavy bag before stepping out of her small home in northern Idlib.
Outside, her young son waves from the window, his eyes a mix of fear and pride, as Reem walks toward the Civil Defence vehicle, aware that the day may bring danger.
Reem walks without hesitation, having grown accustomed to the mix of fear and determination. She explains, "Every step I take in the field is a confrontation with death, but it is also a step toward saving lives."
Since Syria’s liberation from the former regime, Reem has dedicated herself to the Syrian Civil Defence’s unexploded ordnance clearance programme. She chose this path after witnessing explosions that tragically claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children from her own village.
“The pain I felt became a powerful motivation to pursue this work,” she says, “despite society’s opposition and my family’s fear.”
In a land ravaged by war and littered with its remnants, Syrian women now carry detection and clearance equipment into the field.
With every step among rubble and unexploded ordnance, they face death, yet sow safety in the hearts of children and families, restoring life to villages and lands once off-limits to residents.
Challenging community perceptions
According to the Syrian Civil Defence, north-western Syria is among the areas most heavily contaminated with remnants of war. Cluster bombs and landmines lie scattered across agricultural fields, among the ruins of homes, and even near schools and roads.
It is estimated that one-third of farmland in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo is contaminated to varying degrees, making these areas some of the most dangerous in the country due to the risk of accidental explosions.
Since March 2011, landmine explosions have killed around 3,700 civilians, including 180 in the first quarter of 2025, according to reports by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), which has been documenting violations since the start of the Syrian revolution.
The SNHR also reported that at least 10,400 civilians have sustained injuries, many requiring prosthetic limbs, long-term rehabilitation, and psychological support.
Raed al-Hassoun, head of war remnants operations in the Syrian Civil Defence, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the Arabic-language sister edition of The New Arab: “Explosions caused by remnants of war have become a painful reality we live with every day, with most of the victims being women and children.
“After monitoring the recurrence of these incidents, we found that many of the victims belong to groups that are difficult for male teams to reach due to the social norms of local communities.
“So, we decided to include female members in non-technical survey and community awareness programmes, and later in the actual field clearance teams.”
Raed notes that this strategy has “achieved tangible results, as the presence of women has improved communication with local residents and reduced the number of victims in targeted areas.”
He adds, “The local community has come to recognise the vital role of women and has changed its views after seeing how female members contribute to making life safer for children and women.”
Courage amid danger
Reem is one of the women volunteering with the Syrian Civil Defence’s unexploded ordnance clearance programme. She chose this work fully aware of the dangers involved in every mission.
“The high number of explosions caused by remnants of war among civilians, especially children, deeply hurt me,” Reem says. “Each victim was a wake-up call, and I felt it was my duty to help protect innocent lives.”
The path has not been easy for her, as her family and community initially opposed her choice, fearing for her safety.
“Their reaction was harsh at first, especially from my children,” Reem recalls with a sad smile. “My young son once asked me to quit. He told me he was afraid a bomb might explode, because he couldn’t live without me. But I convinced him that I’m trying to save mothers like me, and that my work helps prevent such tragedies. Gradually, he came to understand; now, he encourages me and feels proud of me.”
Reem also remembers a critical situation she faced during fieldwork: “We were clearing unexploded ordnance in one of the villages when a civilian man unknowingly approached the security cordon. I acted quickly, alerted my colleague in charge of the area, and together we calmly handled the situation, moving him to safety before anything could happen.”
She affirms, "There is no difference in performance between male and female volunteers. While men may have greater physical strength, women often have a keener eye for detail, which is essential in our work that demands a high level of precision."
Under pressure
Despite their successes, female volunteers face several challenges, from the direct dangers in the field to balancing their work with family life.
“I try to organise my time to give my children and family the attention they deserve, but the pressure is immense. Sometimes I feel exhausted, yet I keep reminding myself that my work is important, that I am strong, that I am capable, and that I can do it,” Reem says.
Samar al-Hajj, a psychological and social counsellor, explains that female volunteers on the clearance teams face “intensified psychological pressure.”
As she puts it, “They don’t only deal with instruments of death, but also with tragic images of children who have lost their limbs or widows who have lost their husbands.
“That’s why they need regular psychological support sessions and emotional release programmes, as their mental health is a prerequisite for them to continue working safely and effectively.
“Providing ongoing psychological support, including emotional release sessions and stress management workshops, is essential, especially since many volunteers suffer from nightmares or a constant sense of worry about their families.
“Our focus is on strengthening their coping skills and helping them maintain a balance between their work and personal life.”
Samar adds, “Society often doesn’t realise the magnitude of the psychological burden these women carry. Every successful clearance mission not only removes explosives from the land but also helps them overcome fear and the traumatic memories of war.
“In doing so, these women are rebuilding trust — between people and the land, and between humans and life itself.”
Rebuilding trust
The efforts of the women’s Civil Defence teams have begun to yield tangible results.
Since the fall of the Assad regime, the programme has cleared dozens of hectares of agricultural land and removed thousands of unexploded ordnance, according to reports from the White Helmets.
Wiam Khalil, a displaced woman who returned to her village in southern Idlib countryside after it was cleared of landmines, recalls the fear that ruled their lives before the arrival of the Civil Defence teams.
According to Wiam, residents did not dare return to their destroyed homes or cultivate their lands, which had become 'fields of death,' and children lived in constant terror, afraid to play or go to school for fear of stepping on remnants of bombs or buried mines.
Wiam says the arrival of the Civil Defence team, especially the female volunteers, was a turning point for the village. The presence of women in the teams encouraged residents to engage with awareness campaigns, understand safety measures, and learn how to identify and report suspicious objects.
She adds, “The female volunteers enter homes and sit with mothers and children. They explain in simple steps how to stay safe, which makes us feel secure.”
Amidst the rubble and dangers, the women of the Syrian Civil Defence are proving day after day that courage is not only about carrying weapons, but also about protecting life.
They face landmines every day, not with physical strength, but with faith in the human capacity to create change, transforming fields contaminated with death into fertile, safe land.
They are writing a new story for Syria: a story of women carrying life on their shoulders in the face of danger.
Hadia Al Mansour is a freelance journalist from Syria who has written for Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Monitor, SyriaUntold, and Rising for Freedom Magazine
Article translated from Arabic by Rose Chacko