Aden (South24 Center)

The Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, expressed deep sadness on Wednesday, June 24, over the deaths of five children and the injury of seven others in an incident caused by explosive remnants of war in Al-Ribi village, Dhalea Governorate.

Grundberg said Yemen remains one of the countries most contaminated by explosive remnants of war, offering his sincere condolences to the victims’ families and wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

In a separate statement, the British Embassy in Yemen condemned the incident, saying landmines and explosive remnants of war continue to pose a persistent threat to civilians, particularly children.

The embassy said Yemen’s children “have the right to grow up safe and healthy and to have access to education,” stressing that no child should face such risks.

Save the Children also said on June 23 that at least five children were killed and seven others injured when an unexploded ordnance detonated next to them in southern Yemen, describing it as the deadliest incident for children in the country so far this year.

The organization said the children, aged between seven and 13, had come across the unexploded ordnance while collecting scrap metal to sell and, thinking it was a toy, began playing with it.

Save the Children, which said it is supporting some of the injured children with medical treatment, added that the wounded suffered multiple shrapnel injuries to their chests, abdomens, and limbs.

Rishana Haniffa, Save the Children’s Country Director in Yemen, called for sustained and increased humanitarian funding for the clearance of unexploded ordnance, victim assistance, and risk education programs, saying such efforts have been scaled back due to aid cuts.

These international statements followed a day after the President of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, offered his condolences to the families of the victims. Al-Zubaidi described what happened as a “heinous crime” to be added to the record of Houthi crimes against defenseless civilians.

Al-Zubaidi stated that the incident reaffirms the “terrorist nature” of the group, adding that the blood spilled “will remain a curse haunting the Houthi militias and will not go in vain.”

On June 22, five children, including three girls, were killed and eight others sustained varying injuries, some serious, following the explosion of an explosive device left behind by the Houthis in Al-Ribi village, north of Hajar area in Dhalea Governorate.

The local authority in Dhalea said the blast initially killed four children and injured nine others, before one of the injured girls later died of her wounds. Eight children are still receiving medical care at the Mohammed bin Zayed Field Hospital.

Fuad Jubari, spokesperson for the Dhalea Axis, said on X that the victims were between six and 14 years old.

Jubari described the incident as another example of the lingering impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance, which continue to pose a direct threat to civilians, especially children, in areas near the front lines.

The incident coincided with renewed Houthi shelling in northern Dhalea. A South24 correspondent reported that four Southern Armed Forces soldiers were injured on Sunday by Houthi mortar fire on the Al-Fakher front, north of the governorate.

Despite a decline in the intensity of direct confrontations, landmines and unexploded ordnance continue to claim civilian lives in several areas near the front lines, amid repeated calls to intensify efforts to clear explosive remnants of war and protect the population.