MASAM Detonates 2,415 Landmines in Bab al-Mandab

Yemen is a signatory to the international Mine Ban Treaty but the deadly munitions still pose a major threat (AFP Photo/KARIM SAHIB)
Yemen is a signatory to the international Mine Ban Treaty but the deadly munitions still pose a major threat (AFP Photo/KARIM SAHIB)
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MASAM Detonates 2,415 Landmines in Bab al-Mandab

Yemen is a signatory to the international Mine Ban Treaty but the deadly munitions still pose a major threat (AFP Photo/KARIM SAHIB)
Yemen is a signatory to the international Mine Ban Treaty but the deadly munitions still pose a major threat (AFP Photo/KARIM SAHIB)

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) project to clear mines in Yemen, MASAM, reported detonating 2,415 mines, explosive devices and unexploded ordnance in Bab al-Mandab directorate.

International expert from MASAM D.r Zawba al-Rawi confirmed that the operation included 400 anti-armor mines, 1500 shells and unexploded ordnance, 400 various fuses, in addition to 45 explosive devices and 70 anti-personnel mines.

This is the 18th operation for team 30 in the area, bringing the total number of operations carried out by the project in Yemen to 62.

Director-General of the MASAM project Ousama Al-Gosaibi announced that the teams cleared since the launch of the project until the 11th of June 169,434 mines, unexploded ordnance, and explosive devices. Last week, an area of 264,862 square meters was purified, he added, which brings the total since launching the project to 10,648,279 square meters.

Moreover, MASAM’s operation room announced that the project’s teams cleared during the second week of this month 1,279 mines, unexploded ordnance, and explosive devices, which brings the total of the period ranging between the 30th of May and the 11th of June to 2,131.

MASAM's Operation Manager Retief Horn said that the engineering teams cleared during the same period 1,036 unexploded ordnance and 3 explosive devices. He added that the teams cleared also 238 anti-tank mines and 2 anti-personnel mines.

In this context, a Yemeni was killed on Sunday by a landmine planted by Houthis in El Tor. The residents rushed to the site to rescue him but he had succumbed to his injury and passed away on spot.



US Ambassador to Lebanon 'Very Happy' over Aoun's Election as President

People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights
People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights
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US Ambassador to Lebanon 'Very Happy' over Aoun's Election as President

People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights
People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights

US ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson said she was "very happy" over Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun's election as president on Thursday, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the post.

Johnson and other foreign envoys had attended Thursday's session at the Lebanese parliament in which Aoun was elected.

For its part, France's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday said the election of a new Lebanese president turns a new page for the country and must now be followed by the appointment of a new government capable of carrying out reforms.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said that a new government will have carry out reforms necessary for Lebanon's economic recovery, stability, security and sovereignty, and added that France calls on all Lebanese political leaders and authorities to work towards those goals.