Yemen - July 22, 2024

Despite the cessation of open hostilities, people in Yemen are still haunted by deadly remnants of fighting between the government forces and the Houthis group, with leftover cluster bombs, most of which are of American origin, keep claiming the lives of many innocent people in the country.

From 2015 to 2023, Yemen was pounded with American cluster bombs and other international banned explosives by the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthi forces. These weapons banned under the Oslo Convention have brought catastrophic destruction to populated areas, farmlands, and livestock in Yemen.

The Yemen Executive Mine Action Center in Sana'a, which holds remnants of these bombs, confirmed that the coalition used the cluster bombs excessively. It's a struggle for the center to detect these bomb parts due to the lack of UN support and a shortage of detection devices and protective gear for field teams.

"There have been over 3,000 cluster bomb air-strikes on Yemen. The center has cleared more than three million pieces of cluster munitions, but there are still many more. Large areas in several provinces are strewn with these remnants," said Mohammed Al-Abdali, deputy director of victim assistance at the mine center.

Casualty numbers on this front continue to climb, despite the country entering a state of relative calm since the signing of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement two years ago. Remnants of weapons thrown onto Yemeni lands have claimed many civilian lives, especially in villages and farms near the border with Saudi Arabia. According to the Humanitarian Eye Center, the Yemeni provinces of Saada, Hajjah, and Hudaydah were the ones most targeted by cluster bombs, along with white phosphorus bombs and toxic gas missiles in Marib, leaving behind thousands of victims.

"People are dying due to cluster bombs found in populated residential areas and agricultural fields, where children often mistake them for toys and carry them home. The latest tragedy occurred in Hamdan, Dhamar and Atab. A child brought one to school, mistaking it to be a toy, causing the deaths of 12 students," said Ahmed Abu Hamra, head of the Humanitarian Eye Center for Development and Rights.

"My son Muhammad was playing with his siblings in the afternoon. While they were playing in the dirt, he found a cluster bomb and took it, which exploded in his hand, and as a result, his fingers were amputated," said Fares Qaramesh, father of a cluster boom victim.

Field teams specialized in land-mine clearance are working tirelessly to sanitize areas targeted by cluster bombs. Officials at the Mine Center reported that 11 out of 19 types of these bombs were of American origin. However, these teams are struggling to cope with the war legacy due to limited resources and lack of necessary safety equipment for their protection.

Yemen has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since 2014, with the Houthis fighting against the Yemeni government. The Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in the conflict in support of the Yemeni government in 2015.

The years-long war brought the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of collapse, causing famine and widespread suffering as well as disrupting the country's food supply chain, leaving millions of people without access to adequate nutrition.

A UN-brokered humanitarian truce that went into effect in April 2022 provided a glimmer of hope for a peaceful resolution to Yemen's conflict by substantially reducing violence across the country.

SHOTLIST:
Sanaa, Yemen - July 22, 2024
1. Warning sign for explosive bombs;
2. Various of remnants of bombs on ground;
3. Various of sign, building of Yemen Executive Mine Action Center;
4. Various of remnants of cluster bombs, other weapons;
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Al-Abdali, deputy director of victim assistance, Yemen Executive Mine Action Center in Sanaa:
"There had been over 3,000 cluster bomb air-strikes on Yemen. The Center has cleared more than three million pieces of cluster munitions, but there are still many more. Large areas in several provinces are strewn with these remnants.";
6. Various of remnants of bombs;
7. Interview in progress;
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed Abu Hamra, head, Humanitarian Eye Center for Development and Rights(starting with shot 7):
"People are dying due to cluster bombs found in populated residential areas and agricultural fields, where children often mistake them for toys and carry them home. The latest tragedy occurred in Hamdan, Dhamar and Atab. A child brought one to school, mistaking it to be a toy, causing the deaths of 12 students.";
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fares Qaramesh, father, cluster boom victim:
"My son Muhammad was playing with his siblings in the afternoon. While they were playing in the dirt, he found a cluster bomb and took it, which exploded in his hand and amputated his fingers.";
10. Various of boy wounded by leftover cluster bomb.

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