[19/06/2018 09:47]

Riyadh - Saba

Hardly a day passes without the news of the injury or death of a Yemeni citizen due to mines planted by the Houthi militias after their successive losses against the progress of the legitimate forces supported by Arab coalition. Yemen has become one of the most affected countries of mine planting disaster since the end of the World War II, with a total of half a million mines planted by the militias in the Yemeni cities.

This huge amount of landmines constitutes a sustainable threat to civilian lives, compounded by the Houthi militias' deliberate, indiscriminate and heavy planting of internationally banned mines in the areas where they expelled from, even in homes, roads, and public facilities.

The mines types the Houthis plant varies. Some of them are handmade in the form of rocks if the area is mountainous and in the form of sand clusters, as well as other known mines of all kinds.

The Houthi militias deliberately plant mines and IEDs randomly in the streets, houses, farms of the areas which they are expelled from without taking into account the civilian, children, youth, and the elderly.

According to Local and international human right reports, the Houthi militias planted more than half a million mines in liberated Yemeni provinces, including internationally banned mines that killed hundreds of civilians and caused thousands of permanent disabilities to others. Every day, the damages of Yemenis are doubled and civilians paid the ultimate price. The Houthis have mined land and sea, which deprived farmers and fishermen of practicing their daily work through committing the most heinous crimes of war by outrageous violation of humanitarian law. There are a number of international agreements that regulate or prohibit the use of such landmines and explosive remnants of war.

These agreements are part of international humanitarian law aimed at reducing the effects of armed conflict on humanitarian grounds, including the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention "the 1997 Ottawa Convention" which came into effect in March 1999. In March 2007, 153 countries have already agreed to the terms of the convention or acceded to it. The treaty imposed a total ban on anti-personnel mines after negotiations led by strong and unusual coalition involved a number of governments, UN, and international humanitarian organizations through a network known as (The international Campaign to Ban Landmines). The convention signatories are committed not to use, develop, or produce antipersonnel landmines, and to destroy - within four years - all mine stockpiles and to remove - within ten years - all planed mines.

In return, King Salman Humanitarian Aid And Relief Center continues the implementation of its projects to help Yemeni people to get rid of the Houthi mines and their catastrophic consequences, including the project to support the physical rehabilitation Centers carried out by the international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with more that 10 million dollars.

King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center pays special attention to the landmines victims of innocent civilians. In addition to medical and therapeutic assistance, the Center provides a project of mine risk educational sessions and psychological support services for children and affected families in order to save the lives of Yemenis, especially children under 5, pregnant and nursing mothers, from the risks of death fields left by the Houthis and the followers of the ousted leader Ali Abdullah Saleh in every area they controlled before being liberated by the National Army and the Popular Resistance Forces with the assistance of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition Forces to support the legitimacy.

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