News
The leader of team 14 Masam Mohammed Hussein Qamata indicated that his team has been able to secure and clear 21 fields and mined areas in the directorates of Al Ghayl and Al Yatmah of Al Jawf province, and Dhat Al Rai in Marib province.
Engineer Qamata said in an exclusive interview with Masam’s media office that “They have been able to clear and destroy 4300 landmines and explosive devices, and also 6700 rockets and various shells in addition to thousands of ammunition and war remnants”.
And regarding the team’s mission in Al Ghayl directorate which has lasted for over a year, Engineer Qamata indicated that the directorate has been a disaster area due to the huge quantity of landmines that the Houthis have planted everywhere at random.
He added that Al Ghayl region has witnessed fierce battles for months, and it is, according to him, one of the most destroyed areas in Yemen, because the Houthis have planted thousands of landmines in homes, farms, water wells, and every region, building, road or public service that civilians use.
The leader of team 14 Masam noted that Al Ghayl directorate welcomed and hosted, after its liberation, more than 650 families that were displaced from Amran and Sa’dah provinces, and the lives of these families have been endangered because of the landmines, which led team 14 Masam to go the region in order to secure it.
Engineer Qamata indicated that as soon as the team arrived in Al Ghayl, it started an awareness campaign for civilians; the team went to homes, schools and markets to make civilians aware of the danger of landmines, and not to approach or stockpile them, and to inform the team as soon as they find one of them.
Qamata confirmed that the awareness campaigns led by his team have been successful, and that the civilians’ reaction to them has been great and very positive.
And regarding Al Yatmah directorate of Al Jawf province, he reiterated that the Houthis’ crimes there have not been less hideous than they have been in Al Ghayl, for in Al Yatmah, the Houthis practiced their favorite hobby: planting landmines extensively and horribly in all the deserts of Al Yatmah, and these landmines have become a trap for civilians’ vehicles, their transportation and even their livestock because the majority of planted areas are considered grasslands.
He noted that Masam’s teams were able during their work there to reduce the calamity of landmines massively, and to secure vast areas of Al Yatmah’s deserts, grasslands and roads.
And in Marib, where team 14 Masam is currently working, Qamata confirmed that Marib has overcome the danger of landmines in 70% of its lands, and Masam’s engineering teams are still working hard to clear the remaining areas and save civilians’ lives from the evil of landmines.
And regarding the field that is being cleared currently by the team, he reiterated that it is one of the biggest fields that the team has worked in to clear so far, with the size of one square kilometer. The field is also of great importance because it is surrounded with 3 refugees’ camps and is a grassland through which more than 300 sheep pass on a daily basis.
Qamata said also that the team has been able to secure 95% of the total size of the field, clearing 72 landmines, 13 explosive devices, and work is still going on to clear it entirely.