Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 467,431 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 6,639 anti-personnel mines, 145,404 anti-tank mines, 307,230 unexploded ordnance (UXO) and 8,158 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) neutralised over 61,232,240 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 (19 October – 25 October 2024) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 720 deadly items, including 29 anti-personnel mines, 21 anti-tank mines, and 670 UXO according to Project Masam Managing Director Ousama Algosaibi. The teams cleared 265,915 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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