Barran Press
emen's Chief of Staff, General Sagheer bin Aziz, on Monday, June 10, 2024, lauded the efforts of the Saudi Project for Mine Action (MASAM) in clearing Yemeni lands of mines and unexploded ordnance.
During a meeting with MASAM Director-General Osama al-Qusaibi in Riyadh, bin Aziz stated that "the program's efforts and humanitarian contributions are appreciated by the Yemeni people and leadership," according to the official Yemeni news agency Saba.
He accused the Houthis of "continuing to plant millions of mines and explosives in lands, roads, farms, beaches, schools, and citizens' homes," highlighting their "insistence on booby-trapping land and sea with internationally prohibited devices as part of their terrorist tendencies and bloody methodology to kill Yemenis, target civilians, and innocents, and endanger lives."
Bin Aziz described these Houthi actions as "blatant violations of international humanitarian and legal norms," emphasizing that the majority of victims are children and women, resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries, including permanent disabilities for hundreds.
He reaffirmed the Yemeni Armed Forces' commitment to the Yemeni Constitution, signed agreements and charters, and international humanitarian law. He pledged full support and cooperation with MASAM, facilitating the work of engineering teams to successfully remove Houthi-planted explosive devices and save innocent lives.
In June 2023, Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi awarded MASAM and the National Mine Action Program with the "Medal of Courage" in recognition of their efforts in clearing Yemeni lands of Houthi-planted mines and unexploded ordnance.
MASAM, launched in 2018 as a humanitarian initiative by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, currently operates 32 demining teams in areas controlled by the internationally recognized Yemeni government.