Yemen Monitor/News Room
The Saudi mine clearance project “MASAM” has confirmed that it has removed over 450,000 mines in Yemen during its six years of operation in the country.
This was reported in statements made by Osama Al-Qusaibi, the project’s Director General, to Al-Hadath TV.
Al-Qusaibi said that the mine problem in Yemen is huge; the Houthis are still manufacturing and planting mines, even though Yemen has signed an agreement banning the use of anti-personnel mines, but this has not stopped the Houthis.
He confirmed that 80% of all the mines removed by the project’s teams were anti-vehicle mines, anti-personnel mines, or explosive devices manufactured by the Houthis. This is a very shocking number, when we talk about more than 8,000 explosive devices and tens of thousands of anti-vehicle mines – most of which have been converted into anti-personnel mines using electric pedals – and used in agricultural areas, infrastructure, villages, schools, and in front of mosques.
He pointed out that the second problem is the lack of maps and information from the Houthis to any party regarding the mines they have planted in the Yemeni territory.
He explained that MASAM teams rely heavily on the locals or – unfortunately – the places of injuries that occur daily in Yemen, and then they go down to explore these areas.
Al-Qusaibi explained that during MASAM’s 6 years of work in Yemen, the teams have reached a number exceeding 450,000 mines, unexploded ordnance, and explosive devices. This is a very shocking and frightening number, indicating that it will require many years of hard work to remove them.
He added: “Here it should be noted that MASAM teams and all organizations working in Yemen all work in liberated areas away from the fronts, and the information we have is that the number of mines and devices in conflict and front areas is much more than what has been removed by MASAM or the national program in Yemen or other organizations.”
Al-Qusaibi pointed out that the largest mine clearance project in Yemen is MASAM project without a doubt. There are other organizations working in Yemen with funding from the UN or European or American countries, but their presence does not compare to the presence of MASAM project.
He added: “We have 550 employees inside Yemen and 32 teams. MASAM project does not rely on the UN or foreign aid for its funding, but is a purely Saudi project funded by the Saudi government and supervised and implemented by Saudis.”
