Yemen: Houthis reveal latest mine and cluster bomb casualty statistics
SMA NEWS – SANA’A
The Houthis in Yemen announced that 643 people have been killed and wounded in its areas of control since the beginning of this year as a direct result of mines and cluster bombs in the war that is in its eighth year, Al-Mayadeen, has reported.
The movement’s Executive Mine Action Centre said that, in October alone, “Eighteen people were killed and 28 were injured due to mines, cluster bombs and other remnants of munitions left behind by Saudi-led coalition aggression.”
Last Thursday, the UN announced that 95 people were killed and 248 were wounded in Yemen, because of landmines and unexploded ordnance during the six-month UN-brokered truce that expired in early October. The truce has not been renewed.
The Yemeni government accuses the Houthis of planting more than 2.5 million mines of various kinds across the country, including anti-personnel, anti-vehicle and naval mines.
At least 1,400 civilians have been killed and injured in Yemen due to landmines and other remnants of munitions since 2018, said the UN in April. The figure includes 689 women and children.
The Houthis have controlled most of the governorates in central and northern Yemen since September 2014, including the capital, Sanaa. An Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched military operations in support of the Yemeni army in March 2015 in an effort to take those areas from the movement’s control.
As of late 2021, the war in Yemen had claimed the lives of 377,000 people, and inflicted cumulative losses on the Yemeni economy estimated at $126 billion. Moreover, according to the UN, 80 per cent of the Yemeni people are in need of humanitarian aid.
In a related note, the Houthis alleged on Sunday evening that a “US military delegation” will arrive in Yemen this week. According to Ali Al-Qahoum, a member of the group’s Political Bureau, “The US is making arrangements with the UK to launch a new round of escalation.” No further details were provided.
