Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 428,580 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 6,447 anti-personnel mines, 142,801 anti-tank mines, 271,376 unexploded ordnance (UXO) and 7,947 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) neutralised over 53,383,707 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 (6 January – 12 January 2024) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 1,046 deadly items, including one anti-personnel mine, 118 anti-tank mines, 915 UXO and 12 IEDs, according to Project Masam Managing Director Ousama Algosaibi. The teams cleared 259,833 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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