“MASAM” Teams Discover a Women’s Handbag Booby-Trapped with a Developed Mine in Taiz Governorate
Yemen Monitor /Marib
In a dangerous escalation confirming the militias’ determination to target civilians with mines and improvised explosive devices, the Houthi group has developed its camouflage methods. Details indicate that the operations room of the “MASAM” landmine clearance project in Yemen received a report about a suspicious object in the eastern region of Taiz Governorate.
Immediately, Team (33 MASAM) moved to the location and discovered a women’s cosmetics handbag containing an anti-personnel mine and a newly developed button attached to the inner top cover of the handbag, along with a battery and an electric detonator.
Brigadier General Aref Al-Qahtani, the project supervisor in Taiz Governorate, explained that the team dismantled and secured the device, noting that it represents a new shift in the Houthi targeting of Yemeni women. He stated, “This device is locally manufactured and developed in the Houthi militias’ workshops, which have never stopped working on creating anything that would kill the largest number of civilians.”
Regarding the type of mine discovered, Brigadier General Al-Qahtani said, “It operates on both pressure and pull systems,” adding, “The button found facilitates the detonation process when the handbag’s cover is opened, closed, or pressed, which means the death of anyone who attempts to discover the handbag’s contents.”
The leader of Team (33 MASAM) called on all citizens to exercise caution when encountering any strange or unidentified objects in streets and roads, noting that what was discovered today indicates a change in the Houthis’ usual camouflage strategy, which disregards any humanitarian or ethical considerations, or the sanctity of the last ten days of Ramadan, which every Muslim is keen to exploit to draw closer to God, as they have begun to diversify their tools of killing and destruction, targeting civilians.
