Landmine Clearance Initiative Reports Progress Amid Ongoing Yemen Conflict

Yemen’s official Saba news agency reported Thursday that a landmine removal project in Yemen dismantled 880 landmines in the country during the third week of June. The Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance (Masam), established in 2018, has successfully neutralized a total of 405,213 landmines to date.

Masam, working in tandem with Yemen’s government demining teams, aims to eradicate all landmines and explosives in Yemen. The goal is to create a safer environment for the local communities beleaguered by the country’s prolonged military conflict.

Yemen’s civil war, which began in late 2014 following the Houthi militia’s seizure of several northern provinces and the capital, Sanaa, has led to a surge in the use of landmines and improvised explosive devices. Various warring factions have laid these deadly traps, presenting significant risks to civilians.

Yemen’s demining experts estimate that over 1 million landmines have been planted since the war’s inception, underscoring the vital need for ongoing clearance operations.