Houthi militia attacks and their landmines have resulted in the deaths of 11 children in separate incidents in the Yemeni provinces of Hodeidah and Taiz, according to official and human rights sources.
These incidents occurred at a time when residents in the province of Amran (north of Sanaa) discovered a mass grave for 16 individuals who were executed by the Houthis in 2010 during their war with the government in the Harf Sufyan area.
Yemeni human rights sources also reported that the militias launched a mortar attack on civilians in the Wadi Nakhla area of the Hays district, south of Hodeidah. This attack resulted in the injury of five children.
In a statement on Wednesday, the human rights organization “Mayyun” said that targeting these children while they were herding livestock with mortar shells constitutes a blatant violation by the Houthis of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international humanitarian law.
The organization called for an immediate halt to these horrific violations and ensuring that the perpetrators do not escape punishment. It urged the United Nations, the UN envoy to Yemen, and UNICEF, as well as human rights organizations, to condemn the crime and take a strong stance against it.
The condemnation of the attack on Hays district in Hodeidah province came hours after a government statement reported the killing of a child and the injury of five others due to an explosion of a landmine planted by the Houthi militias in the Shoukan area of the Mawiyah district in Taiz province.
The director of the district, Abduljabar Al-Sarari, reported that a 15-year-old child named Arafat Abdo Ghalib was killed, and five others were injured in varying degrees as a result of the explosion of the landmine.
The victims were herding livestock in the area. Those injured in the blast were promptly transported for medical treatment.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance in Yemen (MASAM) reported that its teams have cleared 4,899 landmines, shells, and unexploded ordnance planted by the Houthi terrorist militia in several liberated governorates.
They also cleared an area of 752,681 square meters during the month of June.
