A lawyer has claimed that up to 2,000 civilians have been killed by landmines in Yemen’s Taiz Governorate since 2015.
Omar al-Hamiri, lawyer and human rights activist, said that since 2018, Project Masam has cleared 5,000 internationally-banned anti-personnel landmines.
Al-Hamiri said, “Taiz has suffered from different crimes committed by the Houthi militia, yet the random plantation of that huge number of mines is the worst”.
The lawyer stated that landmine plantation is a crime that will have serious consequences in the present and the future, affecting civilians across every Yemeni governorate.
Al-Hamiri indicated that many of the residential districts still suffer from the presence of anti-personnel landmines (which are internationally banned and condemned by international laws and protocols) and anti-tank landmines.
Al-Hamiri said that the mine-planting crime is classified by the International Criminal Court as one of the seven major crimes committed not only against the military but also against innocent civilians, as landmines have been planted in civilians’ houses, water supply areas, and schools.
The activist said that Masam plays a vital role in Yemen. Had it not been for Project Masam’s humanitarian landmine clearance, many civilians would have never been able to return to their houses, districts, villages, farms, schools and hospitals, Al-Hamiri claimed.
“In fact, the continuation of this project has become a necessity to guarantee a safe life for the Yemenis,” the lawyer said.
