Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 435,234 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 6,493 anti-personnel mines, 143,760 anti-tank mines, 276,980 unexploded ordnance (UXO) and 8,001 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) neutralised over 55,384,227 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 (9 – 15 March 2024) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 658 deadly items, including 85 anti-tank mines and 573 UXO, according to Project Masam Managing Director Ousama Algosaibi. The teams – the majority of which are on annual leave to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan – cleared 3,520 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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