Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 446,112 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 6,537 anti-personnel mines, 144,457 anti-tank mines, 287,073 unexploded ordnance (UXO) and 8,051 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) neutralised over 56,881,560 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 (1 – 7 June 2024) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 1,254 deadly items, including one anti-personnel landmine, 18 anti-tank mines, 1,232 UXO and three IEDs, according to Project Masam Managing Director Ousama Algosaibi. The teams cleared 244,946 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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