Like many farmers living in the resource-rich eastern Shabwah governorate, Abdullah Abdul Qadir was left fearing a landmine might end his life and that of his livestock.
In 2015, the region and its Bayhan Directorate became a battleground between the Houthis and Pro-Yemeni government forces. As they retreated, the Houthis left behind landmines, unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices.
“In reality, the danger of mines is that they are inside the ground and in between grass. We move on this land with our livestock , but we can only rely on God. No one plants landmines in the soil to target people and citizens except Al-Houthi.”
After Project Masam was informed about the existence of landmines in the Bayhan Directorate, Team 30 was sent to investigate and clear the land.
“We arrived in this area on February 21, 2021, and this area contains anti-personnel mines. We started working in cooperation with all team members and in cooperation with citizens who gave us information about this area,” said Engineer Mohamed Ahmed Al-Ajra, Leader of Team 4.
“The area was surveyed and more than 3,000sqm were cleared with crews of five people. Anti-personnel mines were discovered and work is still ongoing to clear these mines from this area to become suitable for grazing and agriculture, as the mines made it an uninhabited area, and hopefully In cooperation with Masam, this area will be cleared, this threat will be eliminated, and it will become an area completely free of mines and suitable for development and investment.”
About Project Masam’s intervention, farmer Abdullah added: “These areas are impossible to walk through, but the demining teams were dedicated and did their duty in grass, sand and everywhere. May God bless them: they are good, loyal, patriotic people who truly serve the Yemeni people.”
In the last week (29 May to 4 June 2021), Project Masam teams cleared 93,878sqm of land in Shabwah governorate, effectively neutralising and destroying 30 anti-tank mines and 267 unexploded ordnance across the governorate.
