Since 2015 until today, 8,104 victims of cluster bombs and remnants of war have been recorded in various governorates, the Director of the Executive Center for Mine Action Ali Safra explained on Wednesday.
Safra’s remarks came during the first Partnership Conference for Mine Action in Yemen, in the presence of UN organizations, OCHA and international organizations in the capital Sana’a.
The conference discussed ways to purify the affected areas in Yemen from the remnants of the US-Saudi-Emirati aggression.
Safra pointed out that cluster bombs and mines widely affected the agricultural sector, as 783,690 farms were directly damaged, with a total loss of $1,880,856. Also, 132,100 hectares were damaged, with varying losses amounting to $3,645,960.
“The number of mines, cluster bombs and remnants of war discovered during 2022 amounted to 20,252 mines and bombs,” Safra added.
He stressed that the Executive Center for Mine Action suffers from a lack of support and a scarcity of supplies and devices for dealing with mines, and there are special devices for mines that are still being held in Djibouti. He expressed his hope that this conference would contribute to developing initial estimates of the necessary support for the center to carry out its humanitarian work to the fullest.
He stressed that the objectives of this conference would be effective enough to get rid of the mine problem if seriousness was found by all concerned parties and organizations.
For his part, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Ali Al-Kahlani said that every effort must be made to protect the innocent and remove death mines from large areas in Yemen.
“Today, we are facing a major catastrophe, the extent of which is known only to those who live in those areas contaminated with the remnants of war, which imposed another siege on citizens and forced most to flee,” Al-Kahlani added. “It requires everyone to increase work, qualify cadres and equip them with tools and equipment to be able to clean up those mined areas.”
Many areas in Yemen’s governorates have been bombarded by US-Saudi aggression with cluster bombs, while many of those internationally prohibited bombs are still scattered among farms and roads, and their victims are in the dozens.
The landmines and other remnants of the forces of aggression that they planted during their occupation, still pose a threat to the residents of many areas of the districts, especially farms and roads
