Houthis’ landmines: ‘No step is safe in Yemen’

In October 2019, Mariam, a ten-year-old girl from Taiz, Yemen, went out with her sister to collect some firewood for her mother. While she was searching, she stepped on a landmine and the blast sent her into the air. She was immediately transferred to a hospital, but unfortunately the injury was not superficial and she lost one of her eyes. This is what the landmine victim Mariam Salem told Jusoor Post about the accident that has been stuck in her mind since then.

One child harmed every 3 days

Since the escalation of conflict in Yemen in 2015, the Yemeni people have been forced to live not only the scourge of war times, but also the threat of Houthi-laid landmines on roads and civilian areas during times of truce. According to Save the Children, one child has been killed or injured on average every three days for the past five years by landmines and unexploded ordnance that was planted by the Houthi militia.

Dr. Ali Al-Tam, director of Hemaya Organization for Civil Orientation (HOCO), told Jusoor Post that his organization works with the victims of the Houthis’ landmines in an attempt to document the number of causalities during both times of war and truce. “During the period between 2015 and 2022, we documented 327 people killed in the city of Marib, including 183 children and 27 women. In the city of Taiz, we documented 486 killed people and 722 wounded seriously,” Al-Tam stated.

With the help of international organizations and Yemen’s Ministry of Health, the non-governmental organizations help the victims get the necessary health care. Al-Tam said that the Civil Protection Organization deals “with very serious injuries, such as the loss of legs, hands, and eyes. Our organization helps the victims by providing them prostheses or referring them to hospitals that can give them the necessary health care. The injured people are increasing on a daily basis, so much effort is needed.” 

 Yemeni children whose legs were amputated after they were injured by landmines playing in the country's second city of Aden/ AFP

No step is safe in Yemen

“No step is safe in Yemen,” Naji bin Nasser, a landmine survivor from Marib, told Jusoor Post, adding, “My injury was in a place that is not supposed to have any landmines; Houthis never came to this place, but it turned out that floods swept landmines away.”

“I was with my three cousins in a pasture as usual, accompanying our sheep, when we stepped on the landmine. One of my cousins was killed, another cousin lost one of his eyes, and I lost my right leg and had internal bleeding. When the explosion happened, I could not move even a toe. The third cousin, who passed out for an hour, got us a car later to transfer us to the hospital. I was so drained; the bleeding was heavy. Doctors decided to refer me to another hospital where the amputation was inevitable,” he added.

 Yemeni children whose legs were amputated after they were injured by landmines playing in the country's second city of Aden/ AFP

Humanitarian aid and everyday life

According to Human Rights Watch, landmines have prevented many humanitarian organizations from reaching people who are in need of help along Yemen’s western coast. The Houthis’ wide use of landmines adds to the humanitarian crises, as people who work in agriculture or fishing face the risk of death or at least getting seriously injured. 

“The social and economic lives of the Yemeni people have been badly affected by the widespread landmines,” Al-Tam told Jusoor Post, adding, “For example, many Yemeni fishermen have stopped their work in the coastal city of Hodeidah, as their boats have been damaged by the landmines and other explosive devices that were laid by Houthis during war times.”

Project Masam’s efforts

There are some serious efforts being done to demine Yemeni lands. In 2018, Saudi Arabia launched Project Masam to work on clearing Yemen from landmines. Masam teams have removed more than 1,598 landmines since the beginning of April. During the second week of April alone, Masam removed 550 unexploded ordnance and 53 IEDs, along with 256 anti-tank mines. The remarkable work of Masam helped to clear 45,367,536 square meters of Yemeni territory to bring back the Yemeni people a little bit of the sense of safety they were deprived from.

A joint Saudi-backed Sudanese-Yemeni military experts force removes and deactivates some 5,000 landmines/ AFP

Cry for help

However, much work is still needed. Al-Tam affirmed that there are still no credible estimates of the landmines in Yemen, the exact places in which they were planted, or the number of causalities due to the lack of funding, capabilities and equipment. “We hope the safety of our lands to be a priority for the humanitarian organizations and international community. Yemen deserves more attention,” he added.

Naji bin Nasser, who first suffered from internal displacement due to war in 2015 and then faced landmines in 2017, said, “I know how war can ruin a whole family, not just one person. I lost my home, one of my beloved cousins and my leg as well. We are one of thousands of Yemeni families who are living the same tragedy that needs to stop.”

Yemeni victims of landmines carry a banner that reads in Arabic 'landmine victims call for support' during a demonstration outside the United Nations office in Sanaa/ AFP