Introduction:

The lives of Intisar Abdulrab Saleh Al-Salhi (17) and Aisha Hussein Abdulrab Al-Salhi (14) were tragically cut short in a horrific act of violence on August 16, 2025. The two girls were killed by a landmine explosion in Al-Ghul Al-A’la area of Na’man District, Al-Baidha Governorate.

According to documentation by “Rasd Coalition,” based on reports from independent media outlets such as Al-Masdar Online and statements by judge Ishraq Al-Maqtari, a member of the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Human Rights Violations in Yemen, the explosion was caused by a landmine previously planted by Houthi forces. Yet the girls’ story did not end with their deaths—it became the center of a brutal battle over truth and accountability, where the memory of victims is often the first casualty.

Disinformation and Manipulation

The girls were killed in the afternoon of August 16. Almost immediately, the Houthis group began deploying a familiar pattern of disinformation. At 11 p.m. that same day, the official spokesperson for the Houthi-controlled Ministry of Health, Dr. Anis Al-Asbahi, posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter) claiming the children’s deaths were caused by remnants of what he called “the aggression.”

This phrase, routinely used by Houthi authorities, is a deliberate attempt to deflect blame from Houthis who widely use landmines and redirect it toward the Saudi-led Coalition. Further confusion was sown by the independent outlet “Yemen Daily,” which published the news alongside an unrelated, outdated image without clarification, an irresponsible act that risks misleading the public and distorting the specific facts of this tragedy.

The Houthi strategy is clear: generate enough noise and contradictory claims to foster doubt and evade accountability. By blaming “war remnants” and promoting a misleading narrative, they seek to absolve themselves of legal and moral responsibility for planting explosives that continue to claim innocent lives long after frontlines have shifted.

The internationally recognized government also bears partial responsibility for insufficient demining efforts. However, the primary responsibility for deploying the landmines lies with the Houthis group.

A Widespread Plague

This incident is not isolated. It is a few heartbreaking data points in a much larger epidemic. Saleh Al-Humaikani, Director of the Human Rights Office in Al-Baidha (under the internationally recognized government), provided staggering context: from 2015 to August 2025, landmines in Al-Baidha alone have killed 151 people—62 of them children—and injured 200 others, including 89 children.

The deaths of Intisar and Aisha represent a double violation. The first was the physical explosion that stole their lives. The second is the ongoing assault on the truth surrounding their deaths—an assault carried out through official statements and media manipulation. This weaponization of narrative is a core element of violence in Yemen, meaning victims are not only killed by conflict but also erased from memory by it, their stories twisted for political gain.

Conclusion

What happened to Intisar and Aisha Al-Salhi transcends personal tragedy. They have become stark symbols of the systematic use of landmines by the Houthis group and the denial of responsibility. The calculated response—blaming “remnants of aggression” and obscuring facts with unrelated images—is not a simple lie but a core component of a military strategy designed to terrorize civilians and evade accountability.

This weaponization of narrative inflicts a second, deeper wound on the victims’ families. It forces them to grieve not only the loss of their children but also the theft of the truth surrounding their deaths. They are left to confront not just their pain, but an organized campaign beyond their capacity to resist—one that aims to erase the context of the crime and deny them any hope of justice or official recognition. This deliberate distortion of truth is an attack on memory itself, ensuring that the historical record of the conflict remains fragmented and contested, much like Yemen’s own landscape.

Breaking this vicious cycle requires the international community to move beyond condemnation of landmine use—a violation of international humanitarian law—and confront the machinery of disinformation that enables it. Human rights reports, UN expert investigations, and diplomatic channels must begin explicitly naming and analyzing these distortion tactics as integral to the violations themselves.

Donor states must prioritize funding for specialized mine clearance teams—and, crucially, for independent Yemeni media and human rights monitors who stand on the front lines documenting this dual tragedy: the explosions and the lies that follow.

The world must see the true story of Intisar and Aisha: a life stolen by explosives, and a memory assaulted by words and deception.