RIYADH: The Saudi Masam mine clearance project has destroyed nearly 6,000 items of unexploded ordnance collected from Yemen’s western coast as part of efforts to protect civilians from the dangers of war remnants, it announced on Thursday.
Masam said that its teams safely disposed of 5,977 items in the Bab Al-Mandab area of Taiz governorate after completing all required technical safety procedures.
The cache included 142 artillery shells, 2,758 detonator fuses, 2,998 rounds of assorted ammunition, 14 anti-personnel mines, 36 anti-tank mines, nine hand grenades, six rockets, eight improvised explosive devices and six projectile warheads.
Adeeb Rajab, commander of Masam’s Second Special Tasks Team, said that the explosives had been collected over the past month from villages, farms and grazing land across Yemen’s western coast.
He said that the unexploded ordnance posed a threat to civilians, particularly children, farmers and shepherds.
Rajab said that the destruction operation was carried out using strict technical procedures, with explosives placed in a specially prepared pit in successive layers to ensure the complete destruction of all munitions.
Smaller items were positioned at the bottom, while more powerful explosives were placed above them to generate an explosion strong enough to destroy the entire cache and prevent any hazardous remnants from being left behind, he added.
Rajab urged residents not to approach or tamper with suspicious objects or unexploded ordnance and called on them to report any such items immediately to Masam teams, local authorities or security agencies so they could be removed safely.
Masam continues to conduct mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal operations across several Yemeni governorates, where unexploded munitions remain a persistent threat to civilians and everyday life after years of conflict.
