More than 1,500 people have been killed and 3,000 injured by landmines laid by Houthis in Yemen between 2014 and 2016, according to a recent report by Saudi Arabian authorities.
Saudi Arabia – which is leading the Arab Coalition against the Iran-backed rebels on behalf of the internationally-recognised Yemeni government – started a project to clear liberated areas of mines and to educate nine million people in the dangers of the anti-personnel devices.
Launched by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, $40 million (Dh146.9m) will be allocated to a project called Life Without Landmines. So far, it has provided victims of landmines with 305 prosthetic limbs.
Since the start of the war in 2015, the Houthis have planted more than 600,000 landmines across Yemen and 130,000 sea mines along the Red Sea coast of Yemen, the report said.
"The Houthis are manufacturing and planting mines targeting unarmed civilians, causing permanent casualties and loss of life," said Dr Abdullah Al Rabeeah, director general of the centre.
_____________
Read more
Houthi rebels using civilians as human shields in Hodeidah
Yemen's hidden threat: mines
Houthi landmine kills family in Jawf province
_____________
Human Rights Watch has said Houthi forces used landmines in at least six provinces since the coalition – which includes the UAE – intervened in Yemen in March 2015.
The Armed Forces have cleared more than 20,000 landmines.
However, the explosives will take many years to clear.
"We need decades to uproot them. Farmers will not be able to return to cultivate their land, pastoralists will not be able to graze their livestock and fishermen will face the dangers of sea mines,” Yemeni Foreign Minister Khalid Hussein Al Yamani said.
He described the project as a model to follow for safety in the country, calling it "a lifeline in the face of the death project".
57%20Seconds
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rusty%20Cundieff%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJosh%20Hutcherson%2C%20Morgan%20Freeman%2C%20Greg%20Germann%2C%20Lovie%20Simone%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.