Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 384,220 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 6,028 anti-personnel mines, 136,061 anti-tank mines, 7,677 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and 234,454 unexploded ordnance (UXO) neutralised over 43,612,168sqm 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 (21 January – 27 January 2023) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 1,081 deadly items, including 14 anti-personnel mines, 167 anti-tank mines, 899 UXO and one IED, effectively clearing 222,631sqm 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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