Mine Action Center: 118 citizens Killed, Wounded due to US-Saudi Cluster Bomb Remnants

On Jun 4, 2023

The Executive Center for Mine Action revealed, in a statement, on Saturday, the number of victims as a result of the explosion of mines and cluster bombs left by the US-Saudi-Emirati aggression since the beginning of the current year 2023.

The Executive Center for Mine Action stated that the unexploded remnants of aggression are still claiming the lives of citizens, children and women, in many Yemeni governorates contaminated with the remnants of war. 118 citizens have been killed and wounded since the beginning of the year 2023, including 50 martyrs and 68 wounded.

The Executive Center for Mine Action stated that the total number of victims of mines and cluster bombs amounted to 324 citizens, 108 of them were killed and 216 were injured.

The Center pointed out that children and women are more vulnerable to injuries, as (41) children were killed during the year and (10) women were killed as a result of war remnants.

During the past May, the center recorded a total number of victims, amounting to (19) who were killed as a result of cluster bomb and mine explosions, including (10) martyrs, most of whom were children and women, while (9 )citizens were wounded were recorded, adding that the bombs also led to the death of hundreds of citizens’ livestock in the governorates of ( Al-Jawf and Saada).

The center revealed that the United Nations has stopped its mine-related activities by 95%, instead of increasing the volume of support due to the increase in the number of victims.

The center pointed out that the aggression coalition used cluster bombs excessively during the years of the war, especially the capital Sana’a and all Yemeni governorates, as it led to the pollution of large areas, whose effects will remain for decades without taking the necessary measures to protect civilians, whether during or after the conflict, as stipulated in the Geneva Convention and the Convention Ottawa and Protocol V to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects on Civilians.

The Center also confirmed that the Aggression Coalition deliberately and directly, by preventing the entry of mine detectors, to harm thousands of children and women and their sources of livelihood, and to prevent the displaced from returning to their homes and villages safely.

The center pointed out that stopping and suspending support for mine action activities means the continuation of casualties and the inability of thousands of families to return to their areas and villages so that they can live in safety.

During the truce, it was recommended that there be humanitarian treatments regarding the provision of mine detectors and the necessary supplies for the Executive Center.

The center explained that the cluster bombs’ death toll from cluster bombs was 75 citizens, 18 of them were killed and 57 others were injured.

In this context, Dr. Anis Al-Asbahi, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health in the Government of National Salvation, wrote in a tweet: Almost six months have passed since the start of the truce, and the number of victims of cluster bomb remnants has been rising, without the humanitarian truce providing any solution for mines and cluster bombs and the provision of tools to cleanse the areas from the remnants of the war, since it was announced in Jordan until today.

Earlier, two citizens were injured on Friday in the explosion of a landmine left behind by the US-Saudi aggression in Al-Ghail district, Al-Jawf governorate, Almasirah Net correspondent reported.

The cluster bombs dropped by the aggression’s aircraft, as well as the mines and munitions left behind by the aggression, are spread in farms, pastures, residential areas and in civilian facilities, causing a high number of casualties.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the claim of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi back to power.

The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.

The victims of cluster bombs have reached more than 25,000 civilians since the beginning of the US-Saudi aggression on Yemen. The Director of the Executive Center for Mine Action, Brigadier General Ali Safra, has pointed out that the support and resources allocated to field clearance do not reach the level of 2% of what is required to be cleaned.

The director of the Executive Center for Mine Action Brigadier Ali Safra stated that Hodeidah, Al-Baidha’a, Marib, Al-Jawf, Nihm and Sa’adah are the most infested areas for mines and bombs, in which the aggression used the most deadly and latest military technology in the country.

He explained that the Center is continuing to work to clear areas contaminated and affected by the bombs and mines of the US-Saudi aggression, pointing out that mines and remnants – especially cluster bombs – have become a national issue and a societal problem that must be disposed.

The Executive Center for Mine Action announced the discovery of 544 mines and cluster bombs left over from the aggression during the first week of January 2022.

The US-Saudi aggression refuses to enter equipment and devices to detect explosives in light of the silence of the United Nations, which bears the greatest responsibility for the continued casualties due to the remnants of the aggression, including mines and cluster bombs.

The Mine Center’s field work is concentrated in dangerous areas and densely populated directorates. However, the UN’s curtailment of its support programs and the coalition’s prevention of the introduction of detectors raises the specter of death that threatens the lives of women and children.