A rights group has announced that more than 100 civilians were killed and wounded by landmines in the past six weeks, amid government warnings of the escalating threat of Houthi landmines on civilians.
International and Yemeni reports revealed that the Houthi militias have planted more than one million landmines, including the naval mines manufactured with Iranian expertise.
The Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, Muammar al-Eryani, warned of the escalating threat of landmines randomly planted by the pro-Iran terrorist Houthis in villages and cities.
The minister noted that the number of civilian victims of landmines has been on the rise since the beginning of the year.
The Yemeni Landmine Records documented the death of 42 and injury of 61 between January and mid-February with the majority being women and children, the minister added.
He accused the militias of not differentiating between civilian and military targets, in what he described as the biggest landmines planting operation since World War 2.
Eryani called on the international community to pressure the Houthis to halt landmine planting and to hand over the maps as well as support the government efforts in clearing Yemeni territories from such explosives.
More than 100 Yemeni civilians have been killed and injured by landmines planted by Houthis since the start of the year, according to the Yemeni Landmine Records.
The group said that 42 civilians were killed and 61 were wounded in the past six weeks.
Three children were killed in Hais by a landmine planted on a football field.
The Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance in Yemen (MASAM) announced last week removing 1,387 landmines, unexploded ordnance, and explosive devices planted by the militias. They were distributed as follows: 1,087 unexploded ordnance, 49 explosive devices, 233 anti-tank mines, and 18 anti-personnel mines.
MASAM cleared a total area of 277,794 square meters in one week.
Since its launch until Feb 10, MASAM has removed 386,282 mines, unexploded ordnance, and explosive devices.
MASAM Project Manager Osama al-Gosaibi has made a visit to Aden and the West Coast to check on the progress of the work of MASAM’s engineering teams.
Gosaibi discussed with the Yemeni officials the difficulties faced by MASAM teams and the solutions required to facilitate their fieldwork.
He held several meetings with the Project’s experts to review reports of the achievements made by MASAM’s demining teams during the past period as well as the level of performance development, a press release said.
Gosaibi further held a separate meeting with Brigadier General Ameen Saleh Alaqili, Director of the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC), and Brigadier General Qaid Haitham Halboub, Director of the Executive Office for Mine Action in Aden.
