Despite the huge number of indiscriminately planted landmines, Ousama Algosaibi, Project Masam’s Managing Director, said that statistics indicate the success of the project’s demining teams in clearing 417,103 landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) between June 2018 and now.
In a series of tweets published today on his personal account on the (X) platform, Algosaibi said that all these explosives were detonated live for the world to witness – a reference to the bulk demolition operations shared by Project Masam on its media platforms, in addition to the weekly, monthly and quarterly reports issued by the project to document its operations.
The Managing Director has repeatedly called on all international and local organisations operating in Yemen to publish all their data and document their actions to ensure the world can understand the magnitude of the landmine crisis affecting Yemenis.
Referring to what he believes to be misleading figures published by the Houthis-controlled Executive Center for Mine Action (YEMAC) in Sanaa regarding the remnants of war, Algosaibi referred to international reports indicating that the number of cluster bombs did not exceed 5,000 bombs, asking, “Where are the three million cluster bombs the killers are talking about?!”
“Whoever spreads death will never succeed in playing the role of victim. Even if all international theatres are opened to them.”
In this context, the mine action veteran, who has over three decades of experience, said in his series of tweets that “50 million square metres of land have been completely cleared by the Project Masam teams. Every inch of it testifies to the Houthis’ crimes against Yemenis.”
In reference to the Houthi’s manufacture and use of new, deadlier explosive devices, which Algosaibi claimed only intends to kill and maim more civilians, the Managing Director said, “Bouncing and fragmentation mines in addition to camouflaged ones have been discovered. It’s hard to imagine someone booby-trapping bean cans to kill children, women, and the elderly in mosques, schools, farms, and areas surrounding water wells!”
The head of the project stressed that the Houthi mine laying operations are accelerating and expanding, explaining why the project’s demining teams discover more, newly-planted ones after each truce.
