One of Masam’s demining teams that has been operating in Yemen’s Al Dhale Governorate has explained how his team travelled to a village to investigate reports that civilians had been severely injured by landmine explosions.
The leader of Masam’s Team 18, Engineer Ahmed Al-Radfani, said his team investigated a report that five young girls had been left with “severe injuries” after blasts.
“The team immediately moved to clear this area and the areas around it,” Al-Radfani explained.
Team 18 surveyed the area in Wadi Al-Hadrami and cleared an anti-personnel minefield.
“Masam’s Team 18 completely cleared Al-Ghafla, Wadi Al-Hadrami and Bab Ghalb districts, and all the civilians in these areas are, and will be, safe.”
The team leader insisted on sharing a crucial message to every civilian living in Al Dhale, and other provinces saturated with a variety of landmines.
“We ask civilians to help our team members and report any foreign items, and we will be immediately available within 24 hours to deal with any report.”
Humanitarian mine clearance projects must carry out Mine Risk Education (MRE), which the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) describes as activities which seek to reduce the risk of injury from landmines and remnants of war by raising awareness and promoting behavioural change, including public information dissemination, education and training, and community mine action liaison.
