More than eight years after operations began, Project Masam has reached a landmark 600,000 landmines, items of unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices cleared across Yemen.
Project Masam has cleared 600,000 explosive threats across Yemen, marking one of the most significant milestones since the humanitarian mine-action project began operations in June 2018.
The figure, recorded to 30 October 2026, includes landmines, items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) removed by Project Masam teams during more than eight years of field operations.
Reaching 600,000 cleared items reflects the scale and continuity of Project Masam’s work in a country where explosive contamination continues to threaten civilians, restrict movement and prevent communities from safely accessing homes, farmland, roads and essential infrastructure.
Project Masam Managing Director Ousama Algosaibi described the figure as an exceptional achievement in the project’s history and a reflection of the work undertaken by its engineering teams since operations began.
“The true value of this achievement lies in the lives saved, the dangers eliminated and the areas that have regained a measure of safety,” Algosaibi said.
He said reaching the 600,000 milestone represented years of demanding field operations, as well as the dedication and sacrifices of personnel working to protect civilians and clear land contaminated by explosive threats.
Behind the headline figure are hundreds of thousands of individual hazards which, if left in place, could have killed or injured civilians, restricted access to communities or prevented families from safely using land essential to their livelihoods.
Project Masam teams have cleared explosive threats from agricultural land, residential areas, roads, grazing areas and around vital infrastructure, helping communities regain safer access to places needed for everyday life.
The scale of the 600,000-item total also illustrates the complexity of Yemen’s explosive contamination. Teams have encountered anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, UXO and IEDs across a wide range of terrain and operating environments, often without accurate minefield maps or reliable information identifying the location of hazards.
Clearance work has continued despite difficult terrain, changing security conditions and the technical challenges posed by the range of explosive threats found across affected areas.
The milestone has also come at a profound human cost, Algosaibi added. Project Masam personnel have lost their lives while carrying out humanitarian mine-action operations, while others have been injured in the course of work aimed at protecting Yemeni civilians from explosive contamination.
Algosaibi reaffirmed Project Masam’s commitment to continuing its humanitarian mission, describing the 600,000 figure as both an important point in the project’s history and motivation to continue clearance operations.
More than eight years after Project Masam began work in Yemen, the removal of 600,000 explosive threats represents a substantial reduction in the number of hazards threatening civilians. At the same time, continuing contamination, renewed fighting and reports of fresh mine-laying demonstrate the scale of the work that remains.
Project Masam will continue clearance and emergency-response operations wherever conditions allow, working towards its long-term objective of reducing the threat posed by landmines and other explosive ordnance and helping restore safer access to affected communities across Yemen.
Source: Riyadh Daily
