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Landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO)

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Landmines and unexploded ordnance pose a serious threat to civilians in armed conflict areas. They can take different forms:

1. Mines:

  • Anti-tank mines are laid on roads and tracks and will destroy a normal vehicle.
  • Anti-personnel mines are smaller and can potentially be found in any place where people are supposed to pass through. Most anti-personnel mines are buried in the ground. Do not forget that people planting mines in a road may also mine the fields next to it and smaller paths nearby.

2. Booby-traps:

  • Booby traps are small explosives hidden in an object that looks normal or attractive, (with colours, for example), that explode when touched. The term is also used for mines linked to an object that can be moved or activated (anything from a dead body to an abandoned car).

3. Unexploded ordnance:

  • This refers to any type of ammunition which has been fired but has not exploded.

Prevention against mines and unexploded ordnance

The only way to avoid mined areas is to know where they are. If you are not based in or living in the area, you can only establish the location of minefields by continually and actively asking local inhabitants, or experts on the subject, if explosions or combat have occurred in the area. It is better to use asphalted highways, passable roads in regular use, and follow in the tracks made by other vehicles. Do not leave the highway, not even onto the kerb or hard shoulder, with or without the vehicle. Mines or other unexploded ordnance can remain hidden and active for years.

Unexploded ordnance can appear in any area where combat or firing has taken place, and can be visible. The golden rule is: Do not approach it, do not touch it, mark the spot if you can, and make it known immediately.

Booby traps are normally found in areas which combatants have withdrawn from, In these areas it is imperative to not touch nor move anything and to stay away from abandoned buildings.

If a mine explodes underneath a nearby vehicle or person

There are two golden rules:

  • Where there is one mine, there will be more.
  • Never act impulsively, even though there may be people with injuries.

If you have to withdraw, retrace your steps if they are visible. If you are travelling in a vehicle and suspect there may be anti-tank mines, abandon the vehicle and withdraw by walking back along the wheel tracks.

If walking towards a victim or withdrawing from a mined area, the only way of doing so is to kneel or lie down and start prodding the ground by sticking a prodder (a very thin piece of wood or metal) carefully into the soil at a 30 degree angle, gently feeling for any hard objects. If you come upon a hard object, clear the side of it very carefully until you can see what it is. Mines can also be triggered by trip wires. Do not cut wires if you find any.

All of this can, of course, take a considerable amount of time.

Much of the information in this section has been adapted from Koenraad van Brabant’s excellent manual, Operational Security Management in Conflict Areas.

You can find manuals and resources on mine awareness and education in the Web page of International Campaign to Ban Ladmines: www.icbl.org To access these manuals and resources click here

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