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Horrible numbers and horrifying data about mine planting are published by many organizations. This scourge that turned a country which has been described for a long time as “happy”, into the most mine infested country in the wold since the Second World War. Which makes the process of getting rid of this catastrophe a very dangerous and complicated task.
According to Masam project, the Houthi militias planted almost a million land mines randomly, and they are still planting them up to now in many Yemeni lands and seas, as a part of their strategy which ruined the country and turned it into a pile of debris, in addition to killing and miming people.
The number of victims from mines is rising especially that the lands are still contaminated with this epidemic, as the coup militias continue to plant and camouflage them in different ways in order to harm civilians.
Deminers face huge difficulties in how to deal with booby-trapped mines, which lies in the complexity of the process used to remove devices that work with electrical circuits or infra-red rays, and others that work with pressure and electrical circuits at the same time.
The continuity of the war waged by the Houthis on Yemen and the Yemeni people is considered the main cause that hinders the efforts to purify the lands from mines due to the difficulty in getting to many mine infested areas.
Masam project’s teams work according to the emergency plan that seeks to enable the displaced to go back to their homes, villages and cities through focusing on opening and securing the roads in order to facilitate the delivery of relief goods and providing services.
And just to mention few examples, Masam’s team 8 has been able since the start of its mission to purify 6 minefields in Qataba and eastern Qataba and Al Haima region of Al Khokha directorate, as it has removed 1700 mines and explosive devices and unexploded ordnance planted randomly in inhabitants’ farms, sub-routes and residential areas.
The leader of team 8 Mas’ad Gaid said that his team is working in a field where it has removed so far 222 anti-tank mines and 20 explosive pedals with minimal pressure.
Due to these efforts, this team was able to turn over tens of farms to the farmers in eastern Qataba after they were fully cleared of mines.
In his turn, the Managing Director of Masam project Mr Ousama Algosaibi announced that the project’s teams have removed during the first week of February 1493 unexploded ordnance, 360 anti-tank mines and 11 anti-personnel mines which brings the total to 1865. He added that the total of what has been removed since the start of the project up to the 6th of February was 129348 that varied between mines, unexploded ordnance and explosive devices.
Masam project’s teams led 75 operations to dismantle and detonate thousand of mines and explosive devices in a number of Yemeni regions in order to save the lives of civilians and provide a liveable atmosphere for them despite the huge difficulties and obstacles they face.
The workers in Masam’s teams are in the line of fire, but they don’t care about that because of their deep belief in the humanitarian task they are carrying on their shoulders. They put their lives at stake just to save the lives of others whom the vicious Houthi militias sentenced to slow death. They are wrestling with time, but as these teams work on de-mining the liberated areas, the Houthis’ hands are still planting mines on the other side.