ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A total of 36 Yemeni people were killed by explosives during the first month of 2022 across the war-torn Arab country, a government official told Xinhua.
"Unexploded ordnance and landmines, including Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), killed 36 people and maimed more than 37 others in January," the local government source said on condition of anonymity.
He clarified that most of the incidents occurred in the turbulent Yemeni provinces of Shabwa, Hodeidah, al-Jawf and Marib that witnessed ferocious fighting.
Meanwhile, the Yemen Data Project, a non-governmental organization, reported "139 deaths and 287 injuries as a result of Saudi coalition bombings, bringing the total number of killed and injured to almost 19,000 since Saudi Arabia began bombing the Houthis in Yemen in March 2015."
Following the Houthi retaliatory attacks against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a key partner of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, January saw a surge in air raid rates, according to the project.
Intense battles are still going on between the Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi Arabia and the Houthi fighters aligned with Iran in many areas of the poorest Arab country.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. ■
