Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 430,323 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 6,451 anti-personnel mines, 143,044 anti-tank mines, 272,868 unexploded ordnance (UXO) and 7,960 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) neutralised over 53,788,355 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 (20 January – 26 January 2024) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 733 deadly items, including two anti-personnel mines, 126 anti-tank mines, 602 UXO and three IEDs, according to Project Masam Managing Director Ousama Algosaibi. The teams cleared 246,800 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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