Abdullah Sha’noun, the director of activities at the Education Office in Yemen’s Harib district, has said that everyone in Yemen has suffered either directly or indirectly due to landmines.
“Everyone is targeted: the young, the adult, the merchant, the farmer, the civilian, the military, the activist, the student, and even the sick,” Sha’noun said.
“Everyone in Yemen is targeted by landmines.”
This is backed by Ameen Saleh Al-Aqili, Director of the Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (YEMAC), to which Project Masam offers continuing training and support.
Al-Aqili stated that many schools were targeted by landmines, causing injuries to children in the vicinity of their schools and even inside their classes. Some of them were killed and many others lost their limbs.
Al-Aqili described civilians’ stories of their encounters with landmines as “catastrophic”, and expressing his thanks to Project Masam, which sent demining teams to Harib district to clear the area.
Yemen is still in need of Project Masam’s efforts and will do so for years to come until the last landmine is removed from the Yemeni soil, and until life returns to normal and everyone enjoys security and stability, the director said.
