ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Two Yemeni deminers were killed on Wednesday after an anti-tank mine exploded during a demining and explosive ordnance disposal operation in the country's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, a military official told Xinhua.
"An explosion occurred while a team of pro-government deminers were clearing a field of landmines laid previously by the Houthi rebel militia in the southern parts of Hodeidah," the local military source said on condition of anonymity.
He confirmed that an explosion caused by an anti-tank mine killed two Yemeni experts at the scene and critically injured at least three others.
All the injured deminers were transferred by an ambulance to receive treatment at a nearby field hospital manned by the pro-government Yemeni forces in Hodeidah, according to the official.
Previous reports by humanitarian organizations said that Yemen has become one of the largest landmine battlefields in the world since World War II.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern Yemeni provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi's government. ■
