Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 413,743 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 6,307 anti-personnel mines, 140,731 anti-tank mines, 258,821 unexploded ordnance (UXO) and 7,884 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) neutralised over 49,316,254 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 (26 August – 1 September 2023) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 772 deadly items, including nine anti-personnel mines, 41 anti-tank mines, 718 UXO and four 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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