Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 375,201 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 5,912 anti-personnel mines, 134,745 anti-tank mines, 7,636 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and 226,908 unexploded ordnance (UXO) neutralised over 41,367,166sqm of land since mid-2018.
Since the conflict between Yemen’s pro-government forces and Houthi militias escalated in 2014, liberated strategic areas have been left littered with Houthi anti-personnel mines and anti-tank mines, along with unexploded remnants of war.
Last week (26 November – 3 December 2022) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 1,307 deadly items, including 20 anti-personnel mines, 113 anti-tank mines, 1,170 UXO and four IEDs, effectively clearing 302,746sqm of land, which has now been returned to civilians.
Over the last month, meanwhile, Project Masam’s deminers removed and cleared 217 anti-personnel landmines, 923 anti-tank mines, 3,865 UXO and 79 IEDs.
Up to five million people are estimated to have been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen – many of them displaced by the presence of landmines on their land.
Masam teams are tasked to clear areas of immediate humanitarian priority: villages, roads, schools, etc… in order to facilitate the safe movement of civilians and humanitarian goods and services.
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