ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- An explosion caused by a landmine killed two children and injured two others in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on Tuesday, a local security official told Xinhua.
"One of the landmines laid randomly by the Houthi rebel militia exploded near a football playground in the Hays district of Hodeidah, killing two children and injuring two others at the scene," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"The incident occurred while the children were gathering to play soccer near their residential area in Hays," he said.
He added that local rescuers transported the injured children to a nearby hospital to receive treatment.
Landmines continue to pose a real threat to civilians despite the ongoing efforts by the experts in the mine-clearing projects in Yemen.
Previous reports by humanitarian organizations said Yemen had become one of the largest landmine fields in the world since World War II.
Yemeni demining experts said that more than 1 million landmines have been laid since the outbreak of the civil war in late 2014 when the Houthi militia took control of several northern provinces and forced the Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa. ■
