Yemen Needs More than 8 Years to Remove Houthi Mines

Members of a Yemeni military demining unit prepare to destroy unexploded bombs and mines (File photo: Reuters)
Members of a Yemeni military demining unit prepare to destroy unexploded bombs and mines (File photo: Reuters)
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Yemen Needs More than 8 Years to Remove Houthi Mines

Members of a Yemeni military demining unit prepare to destroy unexploded bombs and mines (File photo: Reuters)
Members of a Yemeni military demining unit prepare to destroy unexploded bombs and mines (File photo: Reuters)

Yemen needs more than eight years to remove all mines planted by Houthis, as over two million mines are still in various areas, according to a Yemeni official.

Several local and international reports revealed that the mines prevent the displaced from returning to their areas and reaching their farms.

Yemen’s Deputy Minister of Human Rights, Nabil Abdul-Hafeez, said estimates show that Houthis planted over two million landmines, with more than 500,000 having been cleared.

Abdul-Hafeez indicated that Yemen needs eight years to clear the remaining mines based on a study carried out 18 months ago.

However, the deputy minister stated that these estimates are no longer accurate because the Houthis continue to plant mines extensively.

The Saudi Masam project, designed to demine Yemen, has cleared more than 32 million square meters of Yemeni land from Houthi mines.

Masam stated that its technical teams cleared more than 32,460,000 square meters of Yemeni land.

The teams worked on more than 1.6 million square meters last month.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) released its report on the disaster of mines, saying mines have killed 2,526 civilians and injured 3,286 others in 18 Yemeni governorates and that 75 percent of those injured by the Houth-laid mines have been permanently disabled or maimed.

The Center also documented in its report the destruction of 425 different means of transport and the partial damage of 163 others due to landmines and the killing of 33 disposal experts working for Masam, five of whom were foreigners, in addition to the injury of 40 other workers.

Houthis have planted mines in villages and rural areas, forcing civilians to be internally displaced, and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching vulnerable groups, according to ACJ.

The report found that mines impede children’s access to schools and prevent civilians from reaching pastures and farms.

ACJ said that the Houthi group has systematically committed this violation in all the military sites it controls and the areas and roads it left.

The Center called on the militias to destroy their entire stockpile of mines and abide by the principles of the Ottawa Convention against the use, storage, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines.

The report recommended that the legitimate government take all necessary legal measures to hold those responsible accountable for planting mines.



UN Rapporteur Calls for Global Action to Stop ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

 UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Rapporteur Calls for Global Action to Stop ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

 UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)

The United Nations’ special rapporteur for Gaza and the West Bank said Tuesday that it's time for nations around the world to take concrete actions to stop what she called the “genocide” in Gaza.

Francesca Albanese spoke to delegates from 30 countries meeting in Colombia’s capital to discuss the Israel-Hamas war and ways that nations can try to stop Israel’s military offensive in the territory. Many of the participating nations have described the violence as genocide against the Palestinians.

“Each state must immediately review and suspend all ties with the State of Israel ... and ensure its private sector does the same,” Albanese said. “The Israeli economy is structured to sustain the occupation that has now turned genocidal.”

The two-day conference organized by the governments of Colombia and South Africa is being attended mostly by developing nations, although the governments of Spain, Ireland and China have also sent delegates.

Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.”

Analysts say it’s not clear whether the conference's participating countries have enough leverage over Israel to force it to change its policies in Gaza, where more than 58,000 people have been killed in Israeli military operations following a deadly Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. The death toll comes from the health ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas government and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

“The United States has so far failed to influence Israel’s behavior ... so it is naive to think that this group of countries can have any influence over (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s behavior or on the government of Israel,” said Sandra Borda, a professor of international relations at Bogota’s Los Andes University.

She said, however, that the conference will enable some nations of the Global South to clarify their position toward the conflict and have their voices heard.

The conference is co-chaired by the governments of South Africa and Colombia, which last year suspended coal exports to Israeli power plants, and includes the participation of members of The Hague Group, a coalition of eight nations that earlier this year pledged to cut military ties with Israel and to comply with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu.

For decades, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank with its own history of oppression under the harsh apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Blacks to “homelands” before ending in 1994.

South Africa’s current argument is rooted in the sentiment that Palestinians have been oppressed in their homeland as Black South Africans were under apartheid.

The gathering comes as the European Union weighs various measures against Israel that include a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, an arms embargo and individual sanctions against Israeli officials, who are found to be blocking a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Colombia’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Mauricio Jaramillo said Monday that the nations participating in the Bogota meeting, which also include Qatar and Türkiye, will be discussing diplomatic and judicial measures that can be taken to put more pressure on Israel to cease its attacks.

The Colombian official described Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as an affront to the international order.

“This is not just about Palestine” Jaramillo said in a press conference. “It is about defending international law... and the right to self-determination.”