Osama Al-Qusaibi, Director General of the Masam Project to clear the Yemeni lands of mines, said that the mines and explosive devices extracted in Shabwa governorate contain modern technologies and are made of materials imported from outside Yemen, which are completely different from the mines that were dealt with during the previous period.
In a press conference held in the temporary capital of Aden today, Thursday, coinciding with the third anniversary of the martyrdom of five of Masam’s foreign experts, Al-Gosaibi added that the Houthi militia is developing its techniques related to the manufacture and cultivation of mines, which was evident through the project teams’ dealing with mines and the extent of development and danger since etc.
He pointed out that the project teams in Shabwa governorate are currently dealing with innovative and booby-trapped mines and others made of new materials that were not present in the mines that Masam’s teams removed during the past years, which represents a challenge for the project and its management, which began training the teams and developing their skills to be able to deal with High-tech mines.
Al-Gosaibi pointed out that the development of the Houthis’ skills in the manufacture and cultivation of mines is not only in terms of quality but also in terms of quantity, as the militia has planted thousands of mines extensively with the aim of inflicting the largest possible number of civilian casualties and even animals.
Al-Gosaibi added, “Never before has one of the project teams dealt with 200 to 250 mines per day except in Shabwa governorate in recent weeks, which is an indication of the huge amount of mines planted by the Houthi militia in the populated Baihan districts, which are still besieged civilian villages. mines until today and it is within the plans of the project teams.”
The Director General of the Masam Project to clear the Yemeni lands of mines revealed that the project crews have dealt with about 300,000 mines and explosive devices since its launch in June 2018 in various Yemeni governorates, while there are other large quantities that were extracted by the Yemeni authorities working in demining, which reveals the huge amount of mines. And the bombs planted by the Houthi militia.
Al-Gosaibi added in the press conference that, during the recent period, a redeployment of crews was carried out on the western coast and even Shabwa governorate, in order to deal with the new areas that need intervention after the military developments.
He pointed out that in Shabwa governorate there are six teams, while there were only two, while arrangements are being made to add two additional teams, bringing the total teams working in demining in Shabwa to eight, given the great need and the huge amount of mines that are present.
He pointed out that the redeployment included sending additional teams to the Hays district, bringing the total to six teams, provided that the redeployment plan, which will start next Saturday, will change and will include the areas of the West Coast, Shabwa Governorate and the outskirts of Ma’rib Governorate.
Concerning the human losses of the project, Al-Gosaibi said that the project’s martyrs amounted to 28 martyrs, including five foreign experts, while the number of injured reached 33 with varying injuries, which are huge sacrifices for the sake of Yemeni lives and the removal of death mines that threaten their lives.
Al-Gosaibi explained that the martyrdom of the workers in the project during the dismantling of mines was not due to human errors, but rather to the occurrence and development of mines each time, including booby-trapped mines that are detonated from a distance and other techniques discovered by the project crews, but after making great sacrifices and it is an imperative necessity, it is not possible to deal with mines without human interaction .
Al-Gosaibi warned civilians against dealing with mines and trying to dismantle them due to the seriousness of this work, which requires specialists and modern tools.
