The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), has praised Project Masam’s humanitarian landmine clearance efforts in Yemen as it continues to remove landmines indiscriminately planted in areas controlled by the Houthi militias.
The statement issued by the 156th session of the GCC Ministerial Council, which was held on Sunday, at the headquarters of the Secretariat General in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, referred to Project Masam’s role in successfully clearing more than 400,000 landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) since its launch in mid-2018.
“The Ministerial Council praised the achievements of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), the development projects implemented by the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Programme for Yemen, the humanitarian support provided by the Office for the Coordination of Relief and Humanitarian Aid provided by the Cooperation Council to the Republic of Yemen, and the humanitarian and development assistance provided by all the GCC member states to Yemen.
“The Ministerial Council valued the efforts of the Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance (MASAM) to clear Yemeni lands of mines, which, since its launch in June 2018, was able to remove around 400,000 mines, ammunition and explosive devices that were randomly planted by the Houthi militia,” the GCC Ministerial Council wrote in their statement.
More than 400,000 landmines, UXO and IEDs cleared
Project Masam’s Managing Director Ousama Algosaibi, this week announced that the demining teams removed 402.258 mines, UXOs, and IEDs between 2018 and 9 June 2023.
Algosaibi added in a statement that so far, the teams have removed 248.842 UXOs 7,806 IEDs, 139,423 anti-tank mines, and 6,187 anti-personnel mines.
The demining teams cleared 47,011,090 square metres of Yemeni territory laid with landmines, UXO, and IEDs.
“This is a great outcome that we are proud of as a humanitarian landmine clearance project – a project that has achieved such unprecedented results with regards to the removal of unfamiliar landmines in very harsh conditions in this brotherly state.”
Project Masam enjoys a good reputation in liberated areas after it has cleared several regions from landmines and brought life back to normal. This has helped the project to gain the trust of Yemenis, who have been cooperating with Project Masam’s demining teams by reporting any suspicious object or accidents to the concerned authorities.
In turn, this cooperation has helped reduce the number of landmine victims, and has spread awareness of their dangers by helping Yemenis acquire a mine risk education to protect themselves against these deadly items.
