Al-Gosaibi to Asharq Al-Awsat: Houthis Have Turned Everyday Objects into Explosive Mines

Houthi landmines that have been concealed as rocks. (Masam Project)
Houthi landmines that have been concealed as rocks. (Masam Project)
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Al-Gosaibi to Asharq Al-Awsat: Houthis Have Turned Everyday Objects into Explosive Mines

Houthi landmines that have been concealed as rocks. (Masam Project)
Houthi landmines that have been concealed as rocks. (Masam Project)

One of the oddest explosives discovered by the Saudi Masam Project in Yemen was a bean can that the Iran-backed Houthi militias had booby-trapped to form a landmine.

Ousama al-Gosaibi, the program manager for the Masam Project, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis had designed the explosive in a way that it would explode the moment someone approached it.

Al-Gosaibi is the first Arab and Saudi to earn a United Nations degree in demining. The Masam Project has been working on removing mines in war-torn Yemen since 2018. The teams have so far removed over 386,000 explosives that have been planted arbitrarily by the Houthis.

Nearly 85 percent of the mines that have been removed by Masam were locally made and designed to inflict the greatest harm possible to civilians, said al-Gosaibi.

Masam teams are waging a war against the Houthis mines, he added.

As of the first week of February, the teams have removed 386,282 Houthi mines and explosives.

The teams, he added, are not removing traditional mines that are internationally recognized, but devices that have been developed by the Houthis.

Furthermore, he clarified that Yemen has also had to deal with mines that were planted during the past six wars. Those were traditional mines, but the Houthis introduced locally produced ones.

The most common mines discovered by Masam are ones that are designed to appear as regular everyday objects, such as rocks, bean cans, pieces of metal, and even palm tree trunks.

The Houthis would plant the explosives in civilian areas, such as farms, streets, schools, fields and even water sources, al-Gosaibi said.

The militias have planted explosives in 18 Yemeni provinces and Masam is operating in eleven: Sanaa, al-Hodeidah, Aden, al-Bayda, al-Jawf, Lahj, Marib, Shabwa, Taiz, al-Dhale and Saada. They have so far cleared 44,122,922 square meters of territory.

Masam is cooperating with the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC) to save as many innocent lives as possible from the danger of mines and explosives in liberated regions, added al-Gosaibi.

The Yemenis have proven their professionalism and competence in mine removal and they will pave the way for the development of specialized and experienced cadres that can carry out this humanitarian work in the future, he remarked.

Masam boasts 525 employees on the ground, including 32 teams operating in liberated regions. They have trained 450 Yemenis and are overseeing their work, revealed al-Gosaibi.

One of the main challenges facing Masam is the fact that the Houthis have planted mines arbitrarily, leaving no maps to indicate their locations, he explained.

Masam has had to rely on field sweeps and information collected on the ground, such as from citizens and unfortunately, when explosives are set off, which is a nearly daily occurrence.

Compounding the challenges are Yemen’s treacherous terrain and the Houthis’ ongoing planting of mines. In fact, some areas that have been cleared by Masam have again been planted with the explosives because the military operations have not stopped, al-Gosaibi lamented.



French Prosecutors Seek New Arrest Warrant against Bashar Assad

A bullet-riddled portrait of Syria's Bashar al-Assad adorns Hama's municipality following the city's capture by opposition forces on December 6, 2024. (AFP)
A bullet-riddled portrait of Syria's Bashar al-Assad adorns Hama's municipality following the city's capture by opposition forces on December 6, 2024. (AFP)
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French Prosecutors Seek New Arrest Warrant against Bashar Assad

A bullet-riddled portrait of Syria's Bashar al-Assad adorns Hama's municipality following the city's capture by opposition forces on December 6, 2024. (AFP)
A bullet-riddled portrait of Syria's Bashar al-Assad adorns Hama's municipality following the city's capture by opposition forces on December 6, 2024. (AFP)

French prosecutors said Monday they have requested a new arrest warrant against Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad over a deadly 2013 chemical attacks after a previous one was cancelled, AFP reported.

It is now up to investigating magistrates to decide whether to issue the new warrant.

French investigators have since 2021 been looking into a suspected Syrian government sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,000 people, according to US intelligence, on August 4 and 5, 2013, in the areas of Adra and Douma outside Damascus.

The Court of Cassation, France’s highest court, on Friday ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, annulling a French warrant against Assad issued in 2023 when he was still leader.

It however added that, as Assad, who was toppled in December, was no longer president, new warrants could be issued and the French investigation could continue.

In November 2023, the French judiciary issued an arrest warrant against Assad on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes, in connection with the chemical attacks attributed to the Syrian government under his rule.

The French judiciary tackled the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction, whereby a court may prosecute individuals for serious crimes committed in other countries.

An investigation – based on testimonies of survivors and military defectors, as well as photos and video footage – led to warrants for the arrest of Assad, his brother Maher – then head of the Syrian army's fourth division – and two generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan.

Public prosecutors approved three of the warrants, but issued an appeal against the one targeting Assad, arguing he should have immunity as a head of state.

The Paris Court of Appeal in June last year however upheld it, and prosecutors again appealed.

Assad and his family fled to Russia, according to Russian authorities, after opposition fighters seized power on December 8.

Another French warrant is already out for Assad's arrest, issued in January for suspected complicity in war crimes for a bombing in the Syrian city of Daraa in 2017 that killed a French-Syrian civilian.