Project Masam has announced it has located and destroyed 468,067 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas.
These include 6,643 anti-personnel mines, 145,440 anti-tank mines, 307,826 unexploded ordnance (UXO) and 8,158 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) neutralised over 61,448,354 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 (26 October – 1 November 2024) alone, Project Masam deminers removed 636 deadly items, including four anti-personnel mines, 36 anti-tank mines, and 596 UXO according to Project Masam Managing Director Ousama Algosaibi. The teams cleared 216,114 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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