Rights group: Rebel land mines in Yemen hinder aid efforts

CAIRO – An international rights group says the widespread use of land mines by Yemen’s Houthi rebels not only kill civilians but block aid to the most needy, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

Human Rights Watch says in a new report Monday that at least 140 people, including children, have been killed in the two governorates of Taiz and Hodeida since 2018, as the Houthis have blanketed farmlands, wells, and roads with anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines.

HRW researcher Priyanka Motaparthy says the Houthi mines have “not only killed and maimed numerous civilians, but they have prevented vulnerable Yemenis from harvesting crops and drawing clean water desperately needed for survival.”

She says the mines have also “prevented aid groups from bringing food and health care to increasingly hungry and ill Yemeni civilians.”