Unexploded mines scatter across the pasture
On the evening of Wednesday, November 29, 2022, the girl Naama Abdullah (8 years old), her brother Salem (12 years old), and Ibad (6 years old) went out to herd sheep, a profession that forms the livelihood of most residents of the village of "Al-Ruwais" in the Al-Rahbah District of Ma'rib Governorate.
The three children (Ni'ma, Abad, Salem) were accustomed to searching for anything they could find on the ground to play with, unaware of the dangers that could cost them their lives, especially since the area where they grazed had been a battlefield for intense clashes between Ansar Allah(Houthi) and the internationally recognized government forces. The conflict during the period from 2021 to 2022 left behind many explosive devices and remnants of weapons in those areas.
On the evening of that gloomy Wednesday, as the sun was getting ready for sunset, the little girl "Ne'ma" found a strange object that looked like a water bottle, and was designed to look like real stones. Her curiosity was piqued, and she called her brother "Salem" to tell him about it. Salem began to examine the strange object in his hands. He finally decided to strike it against the stone he was standing on to see what was inside Suddenly, a quantity of gunpowder came out of it. Another hit, or maybe a third... The gunpowder ignited inside the camouflaged package, and the flames erupted, spreading to Salem!
His younger brother, Abbad, who was about 10 meters away, witnesses the scene and rushes to him in a sacrificial act to save him. Then, seconds later, the camouflaged bomb explodes on the two brothers (Salem and Abbad), causing a roar that echoes in the surrounding mountains.
About 2 km away, the locals head the sound of the explosion and rushed to the scene to investigate what happened. They found the three children in a horrific state. Salem had passed away and became a charred corpse, and his brother "Abbad" had lost his right hand above the elbow. He also died after the explosion. Ne'ma didn't survive either, as they were all torn apart by shrapnel, but she was still alive.
They were taken to the 26 September Hospital in the Al Juba area, where their father was witnessing his tragedies unfold before him. He saw his two children, Salem and Abad, as motionless bodies—one charred, the other injured. He also witnessed his daughter, Ni'ma, struggling with death, and the doctors decided to transfer her to a first-class hospital in the capital, Sana'a. This, in itself, is an economic catastrophe that exceeds the father’s ability to bear the consequences due to his low income and inability to pay for the treatment costs. He found himself faced with a difficult choice and decided to leave it to fate, meaning she would stay in the 26th of September Hospital with its limited medical resources.
Ni'ma" would have faced her fate at that hospital had it not been for an international organization that paid for her treatment in full. She was rushed, accompanied by one of her relatives, to the University of Science and Technology Hospital in Sana'a. A few days later, the little girl, Ni'ma, returned from Sana'a after the injury to live the rest of her life with permanent impairment—one eye. The image of her two brothers after the explosion never left her, as she had been with them only moments before, sharing laughter and playing together.
Mwatana for Human Rights urges the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group to immediately cease planting all types of landmines, hand over maps of contaminated areas, and work on clearing them to prevent further civilian casualties and secure the lives of residents returning to their original communities. Mwatana also calls on the international community to take effective steps to pressure the group to stop planting landmines, expedite the clearance of contaminated areas, and establish an international criminal investigation mechanism to ensure accountability for violations and justice for victims.
