Since 2015, the Houthi militias have adopted the approach of planting landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) intensively and indiscriminately in all areas and villages they seized all over Yemen.
Schools were one of the places deliberately targeted by the Houthi militias – they turned them into military barracks or littered them with landmines and IEDs to destroy the educational process and disseminate ignorance, local villagers claimed.
The Al Shaab School, located in Jabal Habashi District, Taiz province, is a an example of hundreds of schools that were blown up by Houthi mines and deprived hundreds of students of continuing their studies.
One of Al Shaab’s pupils, eight-year-old Hady Abdo Fadel, was injured after a device detonated.
Little Hady told Project Masam: “I was playing in my school playground and there I found a long device, I took it home with me to play with, and one day while I was playing with it, it suddenly exploded, and I lost my three fingers”.
Despite his amputated fingers and the knowledge his school may be bobby-trapped, Hady still gets up early, picks up his backpack and walks to school.
When Masam saw his in his classroom, Hady was able to hold a pen and write, despite his disability. On a sheet of paper, he happily drew a picture of his dreams: a world in bright colours.
“Our school was blown up and the students who were studying with me were forced to move to other, safer schools.
“Although schools were far away, the pupils continued their studies with strength and determination and others dropped out.
“I became afraid of my beloved school because of landmines that may explode at any time. I hope that deminers can clear schools of landmines to allow students to once again resume their studies, safely.”
