When Yemen’s Defence Ministry announced in mid-June that militants of
the Ansar al-Sharia group, which had controlled the southern governorate of
Abyan since May 2011, had been routed, 40-year-old Saleh Salim Abu Khalil
decided to go and check on his home in al-Kood District.
Khalil’s plan was to bring his six-member family home after they were
displaced to Aden almost a year ago. Shortly after arriving in the district,
however, he was killed by a landmine.
“On the second day of his visit,
we were deeply concerned why he hadn’t called us back as he promised,” his wife
Khadija told IRIN. “On the third day, we got the bad news that he was killed in
a landmine explosion.”
In nearby al-Mahfad District, a man called Salim Atef was killed on 24
June - and his wife and three children injured - in a blast at their home: It
turned out that one of the children had inadvertently brought an UXO remnant
into the house, local witnesses told IRIN.
According to local officials, landmines are a primary obstacle to the
return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Aden and Lahj governorates.
Jaar local council member Mohsen Bin Jameela, who has been displaced
with his family in Aden since July 2011, said several dozen families whose
homes are undamaged, have decided not to return after hearing that landmines
are claiming lives on a daily basis.
Secretary-General of Zinjibar local council Ghassan Faraj said at least
42 people have been killed in landmine blasts in the governorate over the past
two weeks.
“Twenty nine of them have been
killed in Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan Governorate, another nine
in Jaar District and four in al-Kood Distirct,” he told IRIN. “Dozens of others
have been wounded. In Zinjibar town, traces of planted landmines are very
visible in the main streets and suburbs. As a result, most of the town’s
inhabitants couldn’t return home.”
On 12 May, the army launched a large-scale offensive, driving Ansar
al-Sharia militants out of almost all areas hitherto under their control.
Hundreds of militants and dozens of soldiers were killed, according to the
Defence Ministry.
Official statistics indicate that more than 100,000 people were
displaced from Abyan to neighbouring Aden and Lahj governorates as a result of
clashes between the army and Ansar al-Sharia militants.
Efforts are under way to demine the area. On 13 June the National Mine
Action Programme (NMAP) began to clear landmines in Zinjibar, Jaar, Khanfar and
Lawder districts. “A large number of anti-vehicle and anti-personnel mines have
been planted… Clearing the entire governorate of landmines may take more than
three months,” Mansour al-Azi, director of NMAP, told IRIN.
Engineering teams have removed more than 3,000 landmines and UXO
remnants around Zinjibar and Jaar cities, according to a report by the
Governor’s Office in Abyan.
On 19 June Yemen’s cabinet ordered NMAP to demine all districts which
have been under the control of Ansar al-Sharia militants, according to Mohammed
al-Shaddadi, a member of parliament from Abyan who attended the meeting.
