Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 411,568 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 6,287 anti-personnel mines, 140,623 anti-tank mines, 7,877 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and 256,781unexploded ordnance (UXO) neutralised over 48,738,891 square metres 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 (12 – 18 August 2023) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 867 deadly items, including 2 anti-personnel mines, 113 anti-tank mines, 736 UXO and 14 IEDs, 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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