News - Yemen: The Director of the Executive Center for Mine Action, Brigadier General Ali Safra, stressed that stopping the international support for the Mine Action Center will result in a humanitarian catastrophe and will cause a large number of civilian casualties.

Brigadier-General Safra said, in a statement to Almasirah, Wednesday, "The United Nations told us to stop supporting the Mine Action Center at the beginning of next September, and this means the continued danger to the lives of thousands of citizens."

He added: "The United Nations Development Program reported that the US-Saudi aggression did not originally allow the purchase of mine detectors and remnants of aggression in Yemen."

He pointed out that the center will work with the available capabilities, and will not wait for any support from the United Nations or others as a humanitarian and national duty.

Brigadier-General Safra stated that the center's field teams were able to survey 120 areas suspected of being contaminated by the remnants of the aggression in Hodeidah, and that what constitutes an obstacle to these teams are underground buried cluster bombs.

He explained that the center has completed clearing villages, residential neighborhoods, and roads from cluster bombs in Ad-Durayhimi and At-tohayta, and is continuing to cleanse farms as a second stage.

He pointed out that the center does not expect to stop the support, and that the international announcement of stopping the support may be just to divert attention from the demands for the introduction of detection devices for these wastes.

On Monday, during the first half of this August, the Executive Center for Mine Action managed to remove and collect (984) mines, Saudi dropped cluster bombs and other remnants of the US-Saudi-Emirati aggression, and they were transported to safe places.

In a statement, the center indicated that it was able to mark an area estimated at (64,780) square meters, while the area cleared of mines and cluster bombs reached more (57,372) square meters in Hodeidah Governorate and Nihm District in Sana’a Governorate.

The center indicated that it has raised awareness about 16,775 people about the dangers of mines in 11 directorates, covering different groups and segments of society.

Earlier, the Executive Center for Mine Action confirmed the arrival of a UN memorandum to the center, confirming that the US-Saudi aggression is preventing the entry of mine detectors.

The head of the center, Brigadier Ali Safra told Almasirah, Friday, that the number of victims of mines and cluster bombs since the beginning of the truce is 255, including 84 children.

He pointed out that the cluster bombs dropped by the US-Saudi warplanes are scattered in civilian facilities, and this has raised the number of victims, holding the United Nations responsible for the continued casualties due to the remnants of the aggression, including mines and cluster bombs.

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'ada 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 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.