Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 378,636 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 5,960 anti-personnel mines, 135,144 anti-tank mines, 7,656 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and 229,876 unexploded ordnance (UXO) neutralised over 42,239,661sqm 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 (17 December – 23 December 2022) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 1,028 deadly items, including 26 anti-personnel mines, 161 anti-tank mines, 827 UXO and 14 IEDs, effectively clearing 308,409sqm of land, which has now been returned to civilians, according to Project Masam Managing Director Ousama Algosaibi.
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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