ADEN, Yemen, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia's demining initiative in Yemen, known as Project Masam, announced on Sunday significant progress in its efforts to remove landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from the war-torn country.
The project's demining teams have removed a total of 2,756 landmines, UXOs, and IEDs across Yemen in the month of April 2024 alone, according to a statement released by the initiative.
The statement detailed that last week, the teams cleared 719 of these explosive hazards, including two anti-personnel mines, 83 anti-tank mines, 631 UXOs, and three IEDs.
The demining operations took place in several Yemeni provinces, including Marib, Aden, Jouf, Shabwa, Taiz, Hodeidah, Lahj, Sanaa, Bayda, Dhalea, and Saada.
Ousama Al-Gosaibi, managing director of Project Masam, revealed in a press statement that since the demining initiative's launch in 2018, a total of 439,132 mines have been cleared from various regions of Yemen.
Large swaths of Yemen have been contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance during the civil war that erupted in late 2014 after Houthi militants seized the capital Sanaa.
The Yemeni government has accused the Houthi group of planting over 2 million landmines since the conflict began, posing a significant threat to civilians even after the cessation of hostilities. ■
