A landmine has killed a market woman, and injured five others after it detonated inside the Eke Ubaheze Market Square, Awo-Idemili in Orsu Local Government Area of Imo State.

The explosion occurred while trading activities were going on at the market, killing one woman after she stepped on a planted landmine though locals said it was two people who died from the explosion.

An Imo State police spokesperson said in a statement that the landmine was planted by suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra and Eastern Security Network. The state Commissioner of Police immediately deployed operatives from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit who swept the area for yet-to-be-identified explosives and after screening, declared the place safe.

Normal business activities resumed under increased police surveillance.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has demanded the West’s accountability for the use of chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq War, urging Germany to reveal its part in arming former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein with such weapons.

Baqaei issued the call in a post on his X account on Saturday, saying, "Today marks the anniversary of a chemical attack in the Iranian city of Sardasht where the toppled regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein killed at least 110 people and wounded 8,000 others on June 28, 1987."

“Germany must accept its legal and moral responsibility by revealing the truth about its role in Iraq's chemical weapons program,” he said.

The spokesperson noted that the painful event in Sardasht was not the first of its kind, as the Iraqi dictator repeatedly attacked Iranian soldiers and civilians using chemical gases, without being held accountable or punished by the international community.  

38 years on, Iranians still demand that the truth be revealed and justice be served for those who equipped the Saddam regime with chemical weapons, Baqaei emphasized, saying "Germany, Britain, the United States, and the Netherlands each played a role in developing Iraq's chemical weapons program in some way.”

He underlined that the role of German companies in Iraq's destructive weapons program was very significant, which could not be possible without the greenlight of the German government.

In the to and fro of missiles betweeen Israel and Iran one risk has become abundantly clear, that of Iran's nuclear and chemical facitilies being attacked. 

Israel targeted three key Iranian nuclear facilities – Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow – and a number of top scientists involved in nuclear research and development. The extent of the damage was assessed, and satellite imagery and expert analysis stated that the strikes had a significant impact in at least two of the locations.

Following on from the Israeli stikes, the US became involved and targeted Iran's the same sites, most notibly dropping 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) on the Fordow site, a nuclear enrichment facility buried deep below a mountain outside Tehran. 

As yet, there have been no reports of radiation being emitted from these sites, in fact, Iran says it moved any material from Fordow in anticipation of heavier shelling. The whereabouts of the material remains unknown.