Asharq Al-Awsat

International experts have confirmed that Houthi militias’ planting of mines is not a self-defensive move but a systematic policy.

They said the militias’ policy aims at targeting innocent people and inflicting the greatest number of casualties, regardless of the fact that these mines are internationally banned.

The experts’ statements came during a discussion held mid-week at the headquarters of the US Congress to highlight the crimes carried out by the militias indiscriminately and subversively to spread terror and punish people in areas from which their elements are expelled.

Yemeni Ambassador to Washington Ahmed bin Mubarak said that women and children are the most threatened by these mines.

He pointed out that the militias’ insistence on using mines, despite being banned by international treaties ratified by Yemen, “proves their brutal nature and their desire to tighten their grip on power with terror and murder because they are convinced that they lack legitimacy and credibility.”

Bin Mubarak said international reports have made it clear that the techniques of manufacturing mines and the materials and pieces used in their installation are all Iranian-made.

He stressed that this is the Iranian regime’s gift to Yemen and its contributions to its development by cutting children’s limbs, mutilating women and youth and killing elderly people.

The Ambassador also explained that the rate of using mines and their deployment in Yemen is very high and alarming, pointing to the planting of one million landmines.

This crime is “heinous and unprecedented,” Bin Mubarak stressed, urging the international community to speak out, criminalize and punish those responsible.

During the discussion, international statistics and reports covering the number of casualties and mines planted by Houthis and the areas where they were concentrated were reviewed, including international reports from the United Nations, the Department of Defense, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and specialized organizations in studying the effects of these mines.