Hardly a day passes without the news of the injury or death of a Yemeni citizen due to mines planted by Houthi militias after their successive losses against the progress of the legitimate forces supported by Arab coalition. Yemen has become one of the most affected countries of mine planting disaster since the end of the World War II, with a total of half a million mines planted by the militias in the Yemeni cities. This huge amount of landmines constitutes a sustainable threat to civilian lives, compounded by the Houthi militias' deliberate, indiscriminate and heavy planting of internationally banned mines in the areas where they expelled from, even in homes, roads, and public facilities. The mines types the Houthis plant vary. Some of them are handmade in the form of rocks if the area is mountainous and in the form of sand clusters, as well as other known mines of all kinds. The Houthi militias deliberately plant mines and improvised explosive devices (IED) randomly in the streets, houses, farms of the areas which they are expelled from without taking into account the civilian, children, youth, and the elderly. According to Local and international human right reports, the Houthi militias planted more than half a million mines in liberated Yemeni provinces, including internationally banned mines that killed hundreds of civilians and caused thousands of permanent disabilities to others. Every day, the damages to Yemenis are doubled and civilians paid the ultimate price. The Houthis have mined land and sea, which deprived farmers and fishermen of practicing their daily work through committing the most heinous crimes of war by outrageous violation of the humanitarian law. There are a number of international agreements that regulate or prohibit the use of such landmines and explosive remnants of war. These agreements are part of the international humanitarian law aimed at reducing the effects of armed conflict on humanitarian grounds, including the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention "the 1997 Ottawa Convention" which came into effect in March 1999. In March 2007, 153 countries have already agreed to the terms of the convention or acceded to it. The treaty imposed a total ban on anti-personnel mines after negotiations led by strong and unusual coalition involved a number of governments, UN, and international humanitarian organizations through a network known as (The international Campaign to Ban Landmines). The convention signatories are committed not to use, develop, or produce antipersonnel landmines, and to destroy - within four years - all mine stockpiles and to remove - within ten years - all planted mines. --More 14:11 LOCAL TIME 11:11 GMT 0011 www.spa.gov.sa/1777355
