Press Release
The Landmine Areas on the Western Coast Have Turned into Death Fields for the People of Yemen
(Translated)

The people of Yemen have suffered from the phenomenon of planting of landmines since the outbreak of the political and military conflicts in the 1960’s and including the wars of the central regions and the events of 1994 and beyond. Since the beginning of the recent international conflict on Yemen, landmines have been planted in the regions of Taiz, Saada, Hodeidah, Ma'rib, Abyan, Lahij, Al-Dhale, Al-Jawf, Al-Bayda, Sana'a, Shabwa and other regions. A large number of landmines have been planted indiscriminately, making it difficult to locate them, as well as the absence of clear maps of them, the type of mines that have been planted, and the lack of qualified local cadres to deal with them in order to extract them in a short period of time. Among the technical challenges is the lack of modern devices to detect these devices and explosives. Also, the sweeping torrents of some landmines from one area to another complicates the verification of the places in which they are spread.

The danger of mines in Yemen comes as a result of the spread of large quantities of landmines, which have claimed the lives of many children, women and the elderly, and caused permanent disabilities and economic losses to individuals and society. It is noticeable that the planting of landmines is concentrated either in villages, agricultural lands, or inside homes, schools, mosques, and grazing areas, and this may be for military purposes, but it was to terrorize people at the same time. This indicates that wars are not devoid of heinous means of destruction with various types of weapons that kill people. Landmines are one of these weapons used by the Houthis, especially on the western coast of Hodeidah as well as in Shabwa. Hardly one week goes by without victims of the mines planted there. During the past six years, 1,929 civilians were killed, and 2,872 public facilities were destroyed or damaged. The latest statistics of the Saudi MASAM Project for Houthi landmine clearance in Yemen indicate that, since its establishment in 2018 until April 2022, the center cleared and destroyed 322,789 landmines, explosive devices and missiles.

How baffling is the one who plants land and even sea mines that reap the lives of the people of his belief and his country, who go about seeking a living, and then he begs for support to remove them! Sana'a called on the United Nations for the necessary support for demining teams that were supported by four-wheel drive vehicles, and then they used these vehicles in the war. Also, the Ottawa Convention for demining was signed with the government of Aden, to extend support to Yemen in the field of demining for a period of 5 years.

The brutal acts that the conflicting local parties are committing against the people of Yemen, indicates that these parties do not care about the people of Yemen and their safety. Just as they do not care about their hunger, cold and heat. They only care about their personal interests and the interests of the major powers that are fighting over Yemen with the blood, dead body parts and money of its people. Only the state of truth and justice will stop the killing and destruction in Yemen and its people; the second Khilafah Rashidah (rightly-guided) state on the method of Prophethood. May Allah hasten its establishment, and guide the people of Yemen to work for it with awareness and sincerity.

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Yemen