- Children often fall victim to unexploded ordnance, failing to fully appreciate the dangers
- The vast number of landmines continues to pose a threat to the lives of Yemeni people
DUBAI: Two children were killed and eight critically wounded when an unexploded bomb went off at a school in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital, the UN children's agency said on Friday.
A child had found the bomb and brought it to Al-Fatah school in the Hamdan district of Sanaa on Wednesday to show friends, UNICEF said in a statement.
The casualties were aged between 12 and 14.
Children often fall victim to unexploded ordnance, failing to fully appreciate the dangers.
"It is highly likely, as we've seen in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, that children will continue to be killed even when there's a lull in violence or the violence comes to an end," said UNICEF's regional chief of communications, Juliette Touma.
The Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance (MASAM) in Yemen extracted 14 anti-personnel mines, 625 anti-vehicle mines, 67 explosive devices and 665 unexploded ordnance — totaling 1,371 mines — during three weeks of February.
A total of 44,743 mines have been extracted since the beginning of the project. An estimated 1 million mines have been planted by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias in Yemen over the past three years claiming hundreds of civilian lives.
MASAM aims to dismantle mines in Yemen to protect civilians and ensure that urgent humanitarian supplies are delivered safely. Houthis are developing anti-vehicle mines and turning them into antipersonnel explosives to intimidate and terrorize civilians.
The vast number of landmines continues to pose a threat to the lives of Yemeni people.