Over 780 Landmines Cleared in Yemen by Saudi-Led Initiative
The Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance (Masam) announced Monday that it successfully dismantled more than 780 landmines in Yemen during the first week of September. This comes as part of the project’s broader effort to clear the way for humanitarian aid to reach Yemeni citizens. The removed explosives included 687 unexploded ordnances, 84 anti-tank mines, seven anti-personnel mines, and five other devices, as per Masam’s statement.
The mines were found in multiple Yemeni provinces including Marib, Aden, al-Jawf, Shabwa, Taiz, Hodeidah, Lahj, and the capital Sanaa. Since its inception in 2018, Masam has dismantled over 414,000 explosives and provides training and equipment to Yemeni demining engineers.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said that Yemen faces one of the world’s worst landmine crises due to its ongoing civil war. Pro-government demining experts estimate that the Houthi militia has laid over 1 million landmines since the conflict began in 2014, displacing the Yemeni government from Sanaa.
