Usually, when any war ends, the death machine stops killing more victims, but the case in Hodeidah Governorate is different as it continues to pay the bill of war with the lives and blood of its people up to date due to the risks of underground mines that threaten the lives of citizens on daily bases. This happens in light of the failure of the local authority and the United Nations Supervisory Committee to move seriously in the mine clearance process in execution of the Stockholm Agreement, which is considered a trump card to alleviate the suffering of citizens.
Although most of the closed roads have been opened and the fighting fronts have been evacuated of fighters, the specter of death still haunts people everywhere even if they were in their way home or while working in their farms. The daily sounds of mine explosions still remind citizens of the terrifying sounds of shells and missiles and its victims during war.
In late August of 2018, the Stockholm Agreement was announced with the aim of ending the conflict between the warring parties. It was signed by the two parties to the conflict - the internationally recognized legitimate government and the Sana'a Ansar Allah government (Houthis) - in Sweden under the auspices and supervision of the United Nations. Under the agreement, the two parties committed to ending the war and clearing mines, as one of the terms of the agreement stipulated that: “The coordination committee will supervise the redeployment and monitoring operations, and the process of clearing mines from Hodeidah and its ports, Al Salif and Ras Issa.”
Regardless of the fact that the United Nations is still present and playing an essential role in implementing this agreement, but it has not achieved any significant progress in this regard. It is true that military operations have been stopped and the fighting fronts have retreated away from the governorate, after the fighting had been taking place on its outskirts, but the remnants of the war are still posing a serious challenge and claiming the lives of innocent residents all over the governorate of Hodieda.
Five years after the signing of the Stockholm Agreement, the United Nations committee and the local authority had to work side by side to get rid of mines and remnants of war before more casualties occurred.
In September 2022, citizens in the area behind the Thabet Brothers factories were surprised to hear the sound of a loud explosion that they had not experienced for many months. When some of them rushed to the site of the explosion, they found the body parts of a man whose only fault was that he had believed the announcement of the local authority that the area was free of mines after the withdrawal of the warring forces from it.
Mines ended the life of an innocent person due to the irresponsibility of the local authority. The citizen Ibrahim Mohammad Hassan Al-Ahdal lost his life after he went reassured that the danger had passed from that area after this was declared by the local authority. He went to search for a source of livelihood in the land where he used to work in before the outbreak of war, but he was greeted by a mine and returned to his family with flying pieces and a pool of blood he left behind that filled the land where he was working. He went on a trip to search for his usual source of income but he did not expect that it was his journey of death.
The victim, Ibrahim Al-Ahdal, was only one of dozens of victims who were claimed by mines on the return trip to their homes from which they were displaced by military operations in the areas of Al-Duraihimi, Kilo 16, Al-Tuhayta, Al-Jarahi, Al-Khawkhah, and many other areas.
A citizen who owned a farm only ten kilometers away from the city, which was close to one of the burning fronts on its outskirts, told Khuyut that before the war, this farm was generating income to cover his family obligations. When he wanted to return to it after the fighting had stopped and the official authorities had assured him, he found it full of mines, according to some warning signs put up by the committee responsible for removing mines!
Five years after the signing of the Stockholm Agreement, the United Nations committee and the local authority had to work side by side to get rid of all mines and remnants of war before more casualties occurred. Therefore, we must not ignore or neglect significance of the complete removal of all mines, as their presence increases the suffering of citizens and threatens to claim more innocent lives.
The local authority of the Sana'a government and the United Nations committee bear full responsibility for quickly executing mine clearance procedures, removing all the remaining remnants of war that threaten the lives of residents, and securing areas eligible for the safe return of the residents and avoid them from sources of fear and anxiety.
