Yemen urges urgent UN action to halt Houthi landmine planting
Yemen’s foreign ministry has called on the UN and international organizations to act swiftly to stop Houthi landmine deployment and expand demining efforts.
Key Takeaways
AIYemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has called on the United Nations Development Programme and relevant international organizations to take urgent action to halt the ongoing planting of anti-personnel landmines by Houthi militants in several provinces. The ministry also urged the expansion of mine survey and clearance programs and support for victims, warning of catastrophic long-term humanitarian consequences threatening civilian lives.
In a statement posted on its official X account, the ministry strongly condemned, in a note to the UNDP resident representative in Yemen, the Houthis’ continued widespread and indiscriminate use of landmines, especially in villages and populated areas. The ministry held the group fully responsible for the resulting humanitarian impact.
The note cited reports that the Houthis have planted landmines and disguised explosive devices in mountain areas, side roads, and the homes of displaced people in rural Taiz province, causing civilian casualties almost daily, including women and children, particularly in the southern outskirts of Taiz city and areas near frontlines.
The ministry stressed that Yemen is among the world’s most heavily contaminated countries with anti-personnel landmines, as the Houthis continue to deploy them. Along with unexploded ordnance, these pose severe risks to the lives, safety, and livelihoods of the population.
The ministry also noted that children are the primary victims, often injured or killed by landmines while herding livestock, playing, or traveling on rough side roads that civilians are forced to use due to Houthi blockades of cities and main roads.
The ministry called on the UNDP and relevant organizations to clearly condemn these acts and to act urgently, in coordination with UN agencies, to pressure the Houthis to stop planting anti-personnel mines. It also urged the expansion of survey, clearance, victim assistance, and mine risk awareness programs, given the growing number of affected areas.
In its statement, the ministry emphasized the importance of supporting Yemen’s National Mine Action Program and strengthening its capacity to enable the country to meet its obligations under the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, as well as international humanitarian law and related treaties.
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