One of Project Masam’s demining teams has successfully secured 18 water wells in Taiz Governorate.
Water wells are vital in the region, but the presence of landmines deprived farmers from irrigation for long periods of time following the beginning of the Yemeni conflict.
Team 23 successfully secured the water wells in Al-Safalia in Mawza district in western Yemen, allowing for the return of civilians including farmers, who are now able to practice their agricultural activities safely.
Leader of Team 23, Engineer Abdo Ibrahim, said that Al-Safalia wells are vital water sources in Dhibab district, and they are a water basin that the villages in Mawza and Mocha as well as neighbouring areas benefit from.
Ibrahim explained that the Houthi militia deliberately planted landmines in and around water wells and roads leading to them in what he describes as “a terrorist act targeting the most important sources of life in the region”.
Houthi mines also targeted educational and health facilities, in addition to all high and secondary roads in the area, Ibrahim claimed.
Eight farms located on the outskirts of these wells were also secured. After removing mines, farms were re-irrigated and cultivated again.
Ibrahim described the stark difference between the time farmland was newly liberated, and when farmers were able to cultivate their fields again following Masam’s humanitarian landmine clearance operations in the area – rendering Mawza green again.
“When we see farms coloured green again and children returning to schools in peace, we cry tears of joy for seeing the fruits of our efforts and fatigue under the heat of the sun,” Ibrahim said. “This gives us a strong determination to go on with our humanitarian mission, sincerely.”
This comes after the President of the Republic of Yemen told the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt on Monday that Houthi landmines have caused land degradation, hampered irrigation and destroyed ecosystems.
