Project Masam has cleared six powerful improvised explosive devices (IEDs) left behind by Houthis militias after civilians in Yemen’s Taiz region this month discovered and reported the presence of large bombs in an agricultural area, averting a major tragedy.
Since at least 2014, between two and three million potentially deadly landmines and IEDs have been planted in Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthis and allied organisations, endangering the lives of millions of civilians, denying access to health, education, water and other infrastructure, and severely impacting the economy and Yemen’s social fabric.
Following successful Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) campaigns in mine-affected communities across liberated areas of Yemen, on 3 December the Sheikh (local chief) of Habeqwa village, in Al-Mashawilah Al-Sofla area of the Al-Maafer District in the embattled Taiz Governate, reported the presence of six IEDs in an agricultural and sheepherding area to local military forces in Taiz, who in turn informed Project Masam.
West of Taiz, Al-Mashawilah Al-Sofla was previously occupied by the Houthi militia, before it was liberated by government forces in March 2021.
IED charges deadly to humans
Aref Al-Qahtani, Supervisor of Project Masam demining teams in Taiz in Yemen and leader of Team 22, was called to respond to the high-explosive blast emergency; with the demining team arriving on the ground on 4 December.
Each steel cased charge was 250 millimetre in diametre and 620 millimetre in length, and weighed 44 kilogramme – of which 37 kilogramme were made up of TNT and ammonium nitrate home-base explosives (such as agricultural fertilisers) with an additional internal booster volume of approximately 2.6 litres.
“With a 37 kilogramme TNT charge, the blast will definitely be fatal to humans located within 15 metres from the device. That type of explosion would most certainly result in eardrum rupture and lung collapse. In a residential setting, a house would most certainly be rendered uninhabitable and most probably beyond repair,” Vince Farrell, Project Masam Operation Officer for Aden and West Coast, explained.
To put this into perspective, 1 kilogramme of TNT is equal to about 55-60 pounds per square inch (psi) pressure over a 10 square metre area. A pressure of 35psi could be fatal to humans and immediately rupture internal organs. With a total TNT charge of 37 kilogramme, each IED discovered in Habeqwa village would invariably result in disfigurement of the human body.
“These IEDs are large in comparison to rock mines [sophisticated IEDs camouflaged as synthetic rocks also widely employed by Houthi forces in a lethal fashion] but are medium-size charged if you consider them as a demolition charge. Across Yemen, Project Masam has found larger variants.”
The standardised Houthi touch
While the six large blast charges were found in an abandoned farm yard and the charges were not connected, they are typical of standardised IEDs being mass-produced, employed and concealed under floor tiles in schools and houses by Houthi forces on the west coast of Yemen.
Indeed, Project Masam previously investigated and cleared five improvised landmines and radio command operated IEDs, which linked 11 explosive charges together hidden under classroom floors in a school on the frontline Al Hudaydah Governorate.
Following investigation by Project Masam experts, it was confirmed that the six Habeqwa village IEDs were designed to be both victim-operated, and Radio Controlled detonated. Given the size of the charges and the location of the discovery, Farrell suggested these IEDs could have been used as roadside IEDs to target convoys traversing the area through strategic roads and tracks.
Explosive Ordnance Risk Education and human rights
In June 2024, Team 22 launched an awareness campaign regarding the danger of explosive devices and remnants of war in strategic areas of Yemen’s third largest city Taiz, which has been under siege by the Houthi militias since April 2015. The siege, which opposes the Houthis to Yemeni forces, has left the city divided into two, with each warring party in control of parts of the city and its surrounding region.
In Yemen, Project Masam regularly carries out awareness campaigns and Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE, used rather than the traditional mine action term, mine risk education (MRE)) as part of its initiatives aimed at raising community awareness of the dangers of mines, and targets populations of all ages and gender. EORE helps reduce the risk of injury from explosive ordnance such as landmines and IEDs, such as the latest IEDs discovered in Habeqwa village.
Landmines and IEDs have long-lasting impacts on civilians and the environment after conflicts end. The use of mines and IEDs directly against civilians, or planted in areas used by civilians during conflict, affects their human rights, including the rights to life, physical security, education and health.
