2 Yemeni deminers killed in blast

Sanaa, Jan 13 (IANS) Two Yemeni deminers were killed after an anti-tank mine exploded during a disposal operation in the country’s Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, a military official said.

“An explosion occurred while a team of pro-government deminers were clearing a field of landmines laid previously by the Houthi rebel militia in the southern parts of Hodeidah,” the official told Xinhua news agency.

He confirmed that the explosion also critically injured at least three others.

All the injured deminers were transferred by an ambulance to receive treatment at a nearby field hospital manned by the pro-government Yemeni forces in Hodeidah, according to the official.

Previous reports by humanitarian organisations said that Yemen has become one of the largest landmine battlefields in the world since World War II.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi’s government.

–IANS

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