3 children killed in landmine explosion in central Yemen

By Gulsen Topcu

BAYDA, Yemen (AA) - Three Yemeni children were killed in a landmine explosion in central Bayda province, a local NGO said Saturday.

The children were killed when the device exploded as they were grazing sheep in the al-Zaher district, the Yemeni Landmine Records said in a statement.

The NGO, which documents victims of mines and unexploded ordnance, did not lay blame for the deaths on any group.

The UN estimates that more than 2 million landmines were planted across war-torn Yemen.

Yemen’s warring rivals agreed last month to extend a UN-brokered truce for two months. Under the truce, which was first reached April 2, all military operations were halted. The agreement also allowed the operation of commercial flights from the rebel-held Sanaa Airport in the nation’s capital.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since September 2014, when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to restore the government to power.

The eight-year conflict has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with millions suffering from hunger.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar