UN envoy calls for extension of Yemen truce

'Civilian casualties have dropped considerably, fighting has sharply reduced,' Hans Grundberg says

Saeed, 55 was driving to see his sister in hospital in Mokha when the car he was driving hit a landmine, which exploded instantly, killing his daughter, 3, and injuring her nine-year-old sister. Photo: Cherry Franklin for DRC

Working alone, without a salary or support, from his home in Khoka, Mohammad has been arranging transport and medical support to people injured by landmines and other explosive ordnance. Photo: Cherry Franklin for DRC

After enduring conflict and displacement, two years ago Eman and her family returned to their home, a tiny stone hut in the middle of the desert. But even though the fighting has moved on, the danger remains. Eman’s house is in the middle of a vast minefield. Photo: Cherry Franklin for DRC

Abdullah, 35, pours water for his goats into empty storage containers for bullets and soldier’s helmets, the remnants of Yemen’s ongoing seven-year conflict. He gestures to an anti-tank mine lying on the ground nearby: “There are mines everywhere here. Sometimes our sheep or camels set off the landmines and they explode, but you can see them everywhere on the ground.” Photo: Cherry Franklin for DRC

In Mowza, western Yemen, a tiny school sits on top of a hillside. There’s no road to the school, just a narrow dusty track that winds its way through open fields. The building was occupied by Houthi troops in 2018. The walls are riddled with bullet holes and the three small classrooms are in a bad state of repair – but it’s the land outside the school that poses the most threat to the young pupils. The school sits in fields littered with landmines and other unexploded ordnance. Photo: Cherry Franklin for DRC

The UN envoy to Yemen on Tuesday called for extending a long-sought truce between the government and the Houthi rebels, which is set to expire in two weeks.

The renewable two-month truce that went into effect in early April has made a “considerable positive impact on the daily lives of many Yemenis”, Hans Grundberg said at the end of a closed UN Security Council meeting.

“Over the past six weeks, civilian casualties have dropped considerably, fighting has sharply reduced with no aerial attacks from Yemen across its borders and no confirmed air strikes inside Yemen,” Mr Grundberg continued.

The official added, however, that he was seeing unconfirmed reports of continued armed clashes that were causing civilian casualties and called for further efforts to de-escalate the crisis.

“I continue to engage the parties to overcome outstanding challenges and to ensure the extension of the truce which is set to expire in two weeks,” Mr Grundberg said.

As part of the truce, the first commercial flight in nearly six years took off from Yemen's rebel-held capital on Monday. Mr Grundberg said another flight is scheduled for Wednesday.

The conflict pits Yemen's Saudi-backed government, officially based in Aden, against the Iran-aligned Houthis.

The Houthis took over Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year and igniting a war that has caused what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Yemen has been swamped by severe humanitarian problems, which have been made worse by dangers of landmines. All photos: Masam

The country has already been ravaged by poverty, war and economic collapse and to compound matters, landmines have been laid across much of the nation in a series of conflicts and uprisings.

The explosives have been used extensively by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels as part of the civil war that began in 2014.

But efforts are under way to demine Yemen, including by the Yemeni authorities and the Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance (Masam).

The demining campaign was launched by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.

Since 2018, Masam has been removing mines, improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance.

Ousama Algosaibi, Masam’s managing director, says the task is mammoth because the number of explosive devices laid in Yemen is 'mind-boggling'.

Mr Algosaibi says landmines have been found in villages, on agricultural land, in children’s schools and on roads leading to villages.

Mr Algosaibi says: ‘These are all civilian areas that are now very far from any active front. I don’t understand the reason they have planted those areas with mines and IEDs.’

'What is the use of planting IEDs under the floor of a children’s school?' he says. 'It just doesn’t make sense.'

'Houthis want to use that as ... a terror tool against the local population, against the local civilians' Mr Algosaibi suggests.

The demining is carried out by 32 teams of Yemenis, who have been through comprehensive training.

Residents may pinpoint a location where a mine cost a relative a leg or killed an animal, and operatives can often then work out the line in which others were laid.

Metal detectors highlight the precise location of devices, which are typically collected and destroyed, hundreds at a time, in controlled explosions.

Masam and other entities carrying out demining in Yemen are doing so while conflict continues to rage.

Masam has cleared more than 32 million square metres and destroyed more than 335,000 explosives to date.

Operating in a war zone magnifies the dangers to the staff and Masam has lost 28 personnel in 16 incidents.

Half of these incidents happened during demining, such as when a mine or other device suddenly exploded or was booby trapped.

The other eight were caused directly by the civil war, such as when drones targeted vehicles or camps.