A truck driver has been injured by a Houthi landmine after it was swept away by torrential rains in Yemen’s Marib governorate, according to local sources.
Sources in Harib district said that the landmine was triggered by the truck, causing severe injuries to its driver.
The sources confirmed that a civilian, who has been named as Talib Qallan, was critically wounded after a truck carrying diesel for the Harib district, set off an anti-tank landmine on the Farshah Safer road.
Following heavy rains, the torrents flowing into the governorates of Marib and Shabwah, washed away large quantities of landmines from areas under the control of the Houthi militia into populated areas and agricultural lands in the districts of Harib in Marib governorate and the districts of Bayhan and Usaylan in Shabwah governorate.
According to the supervisor of Masam demining teams in Shabwah governorate, Masam teams managed yesterday (March 16) to pick up 18 anti-tank mines that were swept away by torrential rains to Wadi Bayhan.
The supervisor of Masam teams in Shabwah governorate called upon all civilians to avoid passing through the torrents at the present time, warning of the danger of tampering with any landmines or strange items, and asserting the importance of immediately reporting them in order to save lives and public safety.
He stressed that Masam teams are ready to respond to any emergency reports about the presence of mines.
A migrating landmine is a mine moved by nature from the original position it was laid in to another, without any human intervention.
Because landmines can be transported by a flooded river anywhere from several meters to dozens of kilometres, the clearance area can easily enlarge exponentially if landmines are washed down from existing and confirmed mined sites.
