Al-Hodeidah.. A governorate booby-trapped with 94 Houthi minefields threatening its people with death and starvation
English - Tuesday 11 April 2023 الساعة 01:24 pm
Hodeidah, NewsYemen, exclusive:
A report by a local organization revealed the catastrophic situation of Al-Hodeidah Governorate as a result of the Houthi militia, Iran's arm in Yemen, laying dozens of minefields, threatening the lives of the governorate's people in 12 of its 26 districts.
The report, which was recently issued by the Rasd Foundation for Rights, Freedoms and Sustainable Development, presented a detailed study on 94 minefields laid by the Houthi militia in 12 directorates and in different areas (agricultural - coasts), describing their impact on the environment and economic activities and the consequent disastrous effects.
The report said that the number of booby-trapped fields and fortifications planted by the Houthi militia in Al-Hodeidah governorate doubled during the past year 2022 , and with it the number of victims and their impact on people's lives doubled compared to the years of war in Yemen, stressing that the governorate now occupies the largest number in terms of the number of victims, the number of fields and their spatial distribution.
According to the report, the Houthis deployed 94 minefields, including 58 fields with an area of 276.91 km², and 36 mined longitudinal tracks amounting to 191.91 km² in 11 districts, led by the Directorate of Al-Durayhimi with an area of minefields estimated at 66 km². Stressing that it is the most affected districts by the minefields and explosives planted by the Houthi militia in the governorate.
He added that the number of victims of mines and explosive objects, during the year 2022, reached 381 people, including 174 children (134 dead, including 47 children, and 247 injured, including 127 children), an increase of 182% compared to 2021, in which the number of victims reached 138, including 49 children.
The minefields and explosives that were not cleared by the Houthi group, despite the end of the confrontations, led to the continued displacement of more than 30,000 families from the affected districts. Because the population reached convictions that there is no real desire or tangible efforts to remove mines and explosives, which caused the isolation and division of 11 districts into semi-siege areas. This made it difficult for medical staff and relief organizations to reach the people of those villages, which led to the spread of diseases and the deprivation of children from vaccinations. and the prevalence of acute malnutrition, the report says.
The report also refers to the side effects of minefields, on top of which is the increase in the number of child recruits, due to the loss of their families’ source of livelihood and the decrease in the number of beneficiaries of food aid, as statistics of recruitment from 26 directorates in the governorate indicate that 121 children became fighters in the ranks of the Houthi group during the year 2022.
The report draws attention to the continuous consequences of the minefields in depriving the people of Al-Hodeidah of livelihood and freedom of movement and travel between the directorates of the governorate and placed them under the circle of those threatened by imminent dangers, in addition to environmental pollution, which is disastrous and will continue to affect environmental life for decades to come.
The use of vast areas of agricultural land for military activities, as well as the deprivation of 40% of the population of the province working in traditional fishing from vast areas on the coast, as a result of land and sea mines, doubled poverty and widened its area in Hodeidah.
