Nazmi Musleh, a local resident from the Karsh district in Yemen’s southern power keg Lahj Province has described life amongst Houthi landmines.
Since the break out of the war, the Karsh frontline has been the scene of intense fighting between the Yemeni government forces and Houthi-backed militias. According to Project Masam, Houthis have used landmines in their retreat from various frontlines, including in the Karsh district, since at least 2015.
“I live in a village called Kahlan, near the Al-Bakr Mountains, where large quantities of landmines have been planted in the valley’s entrances and roads. Landmine explosions have caused damage to civilians, sheep, camels, as well as farmers. One of the mines was swept away due to the torrential rains, and Project Masam teams were called to comb the minefields in the Al-Bakr Mountains and the valley’s entrances along with other places where the landmines were randomly planted,” Musleh told Masam in his village.
Since 2015, the explosions injured members of the national army, as well as civilians and sheep. “These landmines still claim human lives and pose a great danger to civilians in grazing areas, which are the source of income for civilians here,” the villager said.
“Mines are still a huge threat for civilians here, and we hope that Masam teams will eliminate this danger and bring safety to every civilian and keep them away from the dangers of mines.”
Since it first entered Yemen in mid-2018, Project Masam has located and destroyed 282,878 explosive devices including 4,157 anti-personnel mines and 94,957 anti-tank mines, effectively clearing 27,339,657sqm of Yemeni liberated land (as at 22 October 2021).
