ADEN (Dispatches) – A landmine explosion killed a child and seriously injured another in the southern province of Lahj on Sunday, a government official told Xinhua.
The landmine exploded when the two children passed on a dirt road in the village of Shuayb of Lahj Province which is controlled by the Saudi-backed Yemeni mercenaries, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The killed girl is identified as Ghaida Mahboob while the injured one is named Omemah Saif, the Lahj-based source added.
According to the source, the incident is the fifth of its kind in Lahj this year, with high civilian casualties.
Landmines and explosive devices have been claiming civilian lives in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the war on Yemen in March 2015 with the goal of bringing a former regime that had been submissive to Riyadh back to power.
Sudan has contributed forces to the invading coalition.
A number of Western countries — the U.S. and Britain in particular — supply that coalition with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.
Thousands of Yemeni civilians have been killed, while thousands more have been injured.
Much of the country’s infrastructure has also been destroyed, and a Saudi-led blockade has deprived most of the Yemeni population of clean water, food, and proper healthcare.
In the latest development, Yemeni forces killed nearly 40 Saudi and Sudanese soldiers during two separate operations in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern border region, in retaliation for the ongoing Saudi-led military campaign against Yemen.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, said on Sunday that at least 11 Saudi soldiers and 26 Sudanese troops had been killed in Saudi Arabia’s provinces of Jizan and Najran over the past hours, Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah reported.
The Yemeni forces targeted military positions across the region following the gathering and analysis of intelligence, he added.
Saree also said Saudi-paid militiamen suffered heavy losses when Yemeni army soldiers and allied fighters from Popular Committees repelled their attacks in some parts of Hudaydah and al-Rabuah provinces.