An explosives-contaminated grain processing facility in Tal Afar, Iraq that supplied food for 250,000 people can now be refurbished and put in service because Janus Global Operations explosives removal experts, operating on behalf of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, have cleared the site of destructive hazards and other explosive remnants of war hidden by ISIS.

Janus Global’s teams discovered 73 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), booby-traps, and other dangerous items while clearing nearly 192,000 square meters and 90 metric tons of collapsed building debris at the Tal Afar Grain Silo complex. Tal Afar is located about 36 miles east of the Iraqi-Syrian border in Iraq's northwest corner.

Among the items cleared by Janus Global’s teams were rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortars, as well as hundreds of pounds of explosives-related materials.

ISIS held Tal Afar from June 2014 until it was driven from the city by the Iraqi Army on August 31, 2017, after an 11-day battle in which 115 Iraqi soldiers and some 2,000 ISIS fighters were killed.

After developing its clearance plan, Janus Global began work on 11 February 2018, at the grain silo.

Janus Global’s goal was to ensure the site was safe so that repairs to the grain silo components could be completed in time to store the spring harvest.

To speed work on returning the facility to service, as sectors of the grain silo complex were cleared, the cleared areas were transferred to repair and maintenance teams. The explosives detection teams then moved on to adjacent sections that still awaited clearance. 

The facility, when fully operational, will employ 50 Iraqis.

Janus Global Operations is an integrated stability operations company with thousands of employees serving clients in North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Janus’ services include munitions response; demining; IED remediation; intelligence support; logistics; life support; risk management; communications; and other services in some of the world's most challenging and hostile environments.

DC Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia focused on making control investments in middle market, U.S.-based, Government Services and Engineering & Construction Services businesses.