Landmines have continued to injure and kill civilians across several area of Yemen in recent days.
In Al-Bayda Governorate, located near centre of Yemen, a Houthi landmine killed two children who were herding sheep near their home in Al-Zahir District, sources told Project Masam.
According a local source, the two children, seven-years-old Farhan Abdo Al-Humayqani and Ali Abdul Rab Al-Babki, 13, were killed by a Houthi mine explosion in the village of Al-Mardam on Monday (27 November).
A media representative for the local authority in Al-Bayda Governorate, Arif Al-Maamari, told Project Masam that all areas in Al-Zahir District suffer from contamination from landmines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other remnants of war. Al-Maamari also confirmed this contamination has repeatedly injured and killed civilians in recent months.
In Hodeidah Governorate, meanwhile, a landmine explosion occurred on Tuesday (28 November) on a side road in Hays District, wounding two civilians with varying degree of injuries, and damaging their car.
A local source also confirmed that an anti-tank mine explosion targeted a transport vehicle, wounding two people, in the Dar al-Kubaish area, south of Hays District. The explosion also caused major damage to the vehicle that was carrying goods for the villagers of the southern Hays countryside.
Civilians remain majority of casualties
A human rights report found that landmines killed 2,818 civilians and injured another 3,655 others between April 2014 and March 2022.
The report, issued by nine human rights organisations operating in Yemen, documented the death of 534 children, 177 women and 143 elderly people, in addition to the wounding of 854 children, 255 women, and 147 elderly people during the period across 17 Yemeni governorates. Taiz Governorate reported the largest number of casualties.
The human rights report, titled ‘Mines: a nightmare haunting the Yemenis‘, revealed 12,069 violations committed by the Houthi militias against civilians and civilian infrastructure during the past eight years. The report also reported that 5,085 buildings, including government facilities and private property, were damaged.
The Yemeni Landmine Observatory, which coordinates a network of volunteers who identify and report landmines and landmine accidents, said that the landmines planted by Houthi militias in various areas of Yemen killed and injured hundreds of civilians over 15 months.
According to the observatory, “Yemen is suffering from a real catastrophe as a result of a widespread contamination with mines, explosive devices, and unexploded shells left behind as remnants of war.”
Between January 2021 and April 2022, 363 civilians, including women and children, were killed by landmines, IEDs and unexploded ordnance (UXO), the organisations claimed.
The Yemeni LandMine Observatory – also known as the Yemeni Observatory For Landmine Removal – indicated that 176 civilians were killed, including 25 children, nine women, and six demining workers during the same period, and another 187 wounded, including 83 children, 12 women, and two demining workers.
Landmine clearance continues
Since at least 2015, the Houthi forces and their allies deliberately planted hundreds of thousands of landmines of different shapes and sizes before withdrawing from a number of areas south of Hodeidah and west of Taiz – an alleged crime against Yemenis.
Despite Project Masam teams’s efforts to clear Yemeni land of landmines to secure villages, residential areas, main and side roads, in addition to civilians’ farms and grazing areas, the random and extensive planting of landmines requires the continuous and intensive work of Project Masam’s demining teams.
Project Masam also called on civilians, in all mine-affected and suspected mine-affected areas to adhere to instructions and guidelines, and not to enter any areas that have not yet been secured, stressing that strict adherence to these instructions contributes to reducing the threat of landmines and protecting lives.
Project Masam noted that to safely clear all landmines and other UXO requires time, effort, cooperation, collective awareness-raising and adhering to strict awareness campaign guidelines.
