SANAA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- A landmine killed a boy in Hodeidah province, western Yemen, on Wednesday, local authorities said.
The boy stepped on the explosive device in Al-Zaafran village, in the southern part of the war-torn province on the Red Sea coast.
Landmines and other explosive devices have killed or injured thousands of civilians, especially children, in Yemen since the conflict began in late 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally-recognized government from the capital Sanaa.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report last week that 165 incidents involving landmines and explosives were recorded by local monitors in 2023, resulting in 306 casualties, including 200 children and 25 women.
A report by Save the Children released in 2023 said that one child was killed or injured by a landmine or an explosive device every two days in Yemen in 2022.
The Yemeni government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, has appealed for international assistance to clear landmines and other war remnants from the country.
