Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 424,527 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 6,425 anti-personnel mines, 142,223 anti-tank mines, 267,958 unexploded ordnance (UXO) and 7,921 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) neutralised over 52,240,488 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 (2 December – 8 December 2023) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 733 deadly items, including four anti-personnel mines, 110 anti-tank mines, 618 UXO and one improvised explosive device (IED), according to Project Masam Managing Director Ousama Algosaibi. The teams cleared 196,469 square metres during the same period.
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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