The reality is that even as you read this account, a new crop of antipersonnel and antitank mines are being sewn under the sands of this tortured nation. The tm46 mine is a large, circular, metalcased soviet antitank mine. The telegraph uk reports that afghan border police have seized antitank mines and mortars sent from iran to militants fighting natoled forces. Female soldier reflects on injuries, military service. Antivehicle landmines are designed to explode when at least 200 kilograms of pressure is applied or when a car, jeep, truck or tank drives over them. The mine was triggered when enough downward pressure was placed on the spider, with the threshold set around 226kg. The barmine layers are currently being disposed of. The p2 mk2 has a square case with a central circular ribbed pressure plate, the p3 is circular with a central circular pressure plate. A used soft cover ww2 canadian anti tank mines military training pamphlet no. In addition to farmable land, power lines, roads, bridges, railroads, and airports, even schools, factories and cattle dip tanks were mined.
Throughout the war, tanks have not been used very much. A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy. The train was on its way from cumbria to oxfordshire, but had stopped at a red light. Three quarters of all mine victims are civilians and one third are children under the age of fifteen. There was also widespread use of antitank mines, which have the capacity to destroy vehicles of any size and kill and injure dozens of victims. A larger version, tc6, uses the same system with a heavier charge see following entry. It gave the americans no end of trouble during gulf 1 when the iraqis used them. Bombing kills dozens and hurts schoolchildren as taliban. Mine situation in afghanistan afghanistan reliefweb.
In the mountains, tanks have been confined to roads and areas that have been cleared of mines and explosives. Control of mines technical solutions self neutralisation sn for sophisticated and high value mines. In the last 20 years, over 150,000 afghans have been killed or maimed by landmines, with threequarters of these children. Mujahideen8 forces used antivehicle mines in order to block the movement of russian and. Army is trying to develop new land mines ones that.
Total of 20 pages, with lots of information and pictures. In march 2019, unmas afghanistan, with the generous contribution from the government of japan and through its partners, the halo trust and dacaar, implemented a humanitarian demining project in zhari. In this wednesday, may 24, 2017, photo, deminers from the halo trust demining organization collect antitank mines to be destroyed on the outskirts of kabul, afghanistan. The mujahedin laid 260 antitank mines for russian tanks. Antitank mines with this type of fuze were capable of inflicting much more damage to armored vehicles. Afghans who scratch out a living by removing some of the countrys countless land mines have long had to contend with rugged terrain, accidental explosions and the threat. Insurgents placed over 14,000 ieds not including the unknown number of. The xm93 hornet mine is an american antitank mine, it is a widearea mine, capable of attacking targets up to 100 meters away from its position. Increased funding for mineclearance work in afghanistan and. Antitank mine killed canadians, afghan commander arrested. Atc staff, while performing their duties in one of the most hazardous tasks, worked hard so that afghanistan could welcome back millions of its citizens, who had been forced to leave for fear of losing their lives or limbs due to. The british museum will return these war trophies to. The devastation caused by mines in mozambique is striking.
In the mountains, tanks have been confined to roads and areas that have been cleared of mines. Two arrested over antitank mines stolen from freight train in cheshire this article is more than 7 years old packages believed to contain munitions used by british troops in. Landmines in afghanistan afghanistan is among the countries most severely affected by landmines and unexploded ordnance uxo. Milestones in humanitarian mine action us department of state. Such a device is typically detonated automatically by way of pressure when a target steps on it or drives over it, although other detonation mechanisms are also sometimes used. Humanitarian mine action actors in afghanistan have cleared more than 18 million items of erw, some 737,000 antipersonnel ap mines, including 760.
Remote control sn or sd can be achieved by time delay or remote control. A senior commander of an afghanistan militant organization has been arrested after canadian forces determined that at least one antitank mine caused the explosion that killed two canadian. Mines pose a big danger to refugees returning home by passing through. Ghosts in the fish market a marines story from barwanah.
British writer jason elliot, who has traveled extensively in afghanistan since 1979, reported in a 2001 book minding afghanistan that the italianmade tc6 was the most commonly used antitank mine used in afghanistan. A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. The p2 mk2 and p3 mk2 are pakistani plastic cased minimum metal antitank blast mines. Mines as we know them today were actually developed during world war ii 1939 45 and put to wide use, principally as an antitank device. Tc6 antitank mines war in afganistan 19791989 youtube. Anti tank mines can be very useful in a variety of possible scenarios and the barmine was one of the very best. Terror police hunt for antitank mines stolen from train. And dont you love it when diplomats talk like this. The talibs most forward position is a ridge littered with large shell casings, unexploded rockets, dugup antitank mines, and thousands of 12. Referring results of land clearance to be registered in the property and tax books for the. Around me is an assortment of heavy and light weapons and i am cautioned not to stand up for too long or step off the path.
A shipment of powerful antitank mines have been stolen from a goods train. Mines and unexploded ordnance are located in almost every conceivable type of terrain in afghanistan. The tanks of today are much better equipped to deal with urban combat than the tanks that were used in afghanistan in the 1980s. With most of the uks stock of antitank barmines either expired or used for explosive means of entry emoe in afghanistan there is somewhat of a dilemma when it comes to the return to contingency, or conventional combined arms combat. The afghan government has committed to clearing the avm contamination through its obligations to the antipersonnel mine ban treaty and has included avm. The 15pound charge of tnt, wrote elliot in the tc6, he wrote, could flip a tank the way a seagull flips a baby turtle. These mines were large, clumsy and easily redeployed by the opposing forces and often relaid against the tanks belonging to the original mine layers. State department estimates landmineunexploded ordnancerelated casualties at over 2,400 during the year 2000 and that nearly 948 square kilometers of land had been landmineuxocontaminated. According to casualty data on the website of the canadian forces, since the beginning of 2007, 57 of 81 deaths of canadian troops in afghanistan. Major military and civilian positions were mined, including the cities of herat, kandahar, jalalabad and khost. The army has been working on a new model of antivehicle mines that could. Tm46 antitank mine with the arming pin still in place. Both mines use antipersonnel mines as the fuse, typically the either the p4 mk1 or p2 mk2 antipersonnel mines.
We have all read books about the march up, nasiriyah, operation phantom fury, and the numerous seal team and oda raids that happened in the country. A comprehensive ban on the production, possession, transfer and use of anti personnel mines. Self destruct sd for those difficult to detect or clear. The artillery fire damaged the statues severely but didnt destroy them. Talibans tankkilling bombs came from cia, not iran. While the original mines were antitank mines, antipersonnel mines were developed to prevent enemy forces from reusing or removing antitank mines. The mujahidin, made much use of anti tank mines to destroy tanks, apcs or other military vehicles as well.
High quality replica of the m1 antitank mine, as used by the us in ww2. List of books and articles about landmines online research. An antitank mine abbreviated to at mine is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles compared to antipersonnel mines, antitank mines typically have a much larger explosive charge, and a fuze designed only to be triggered by vehicles or, in some cases, tampering with the mine. How the talibans destruction of giant buddha statues led. It uses either a pressure fuze or tiltrod, which is screwed into the top. Army is trying to develop new land mines ones that dont harm civilians a mineclearing line charge being detonated during livefire training at fort irwin in california, october. Two arrested over antitank mines stolen from freight. What isnt in the museum is spread out across roughly 1,000 square miles of the country. The random dissemination of landmines began in the 1960s. But to fully destroy the statues, the taliban had to lower men down the face of the cliff so they could plant dynamite into holes. Last week an oxfam water engineer discovered 5 rocketpropelled grenades and five antitank mines in the air vent of an underground pipe. Landmines, livelihoods and postconflict land rights reliefweb.
Janes military platforms and defence equipment intelligence. Complete news and information about books, publishers, booksellers, and authors for readers, researchers, and collectors of books about the second world war. A comprehensive ban on the production, possession, transfer and use of antipersonnel mines. Landmines in war and peace and millions of other books are available for. Mark perna, the founder of korengal industries, tells the story of fox company, 2nd battalion, 3rd marines in barwanah, iraq, circa 2006 when it comes to the war in iraq, there are many historic stories that have been told. Antivehicle antitank mines are deployed to protect against tanks, a new. When stepped on it leaps 45 cm into the air, and shatters into more than metal splinters, causing casualties within a 25 meter radius. The mine is composed of a main charge and central booster in the plastic casing of the mine body, with a fuze assembly which screws onto the top. The impact of antivehicle mines in afghanistan the halo trust. Ww2 canadian anti tank mines military training pamphlet. Understanding landmines and mine action september 2003 prepared by robert keeley page 4 antitank at mines the main difference between an ap and at mines is that an at mine is much larger and filled with more explosive, hence making it able to defeat a tank. Pfm1 is a small, scatterable antipersonnel ap mine with a body made from lowdensity polythene. Sue downes lost both of her legs after the truck she was traveling in hit antitank mines in afghanistan. The tmn46 is a variant of the mine fitted with a secondary fuze well on the bottom where it cannot be seen which is slightly offset from the.
In 2010, over 63,000 us troops were on the ground in afghanistan. In the first 11 months of 2001 there were 764 casualties. Many of the things looted in the chaos of these two conflicts may never be seen again. Since 1992 140,000 antipersonnel mines, 3,000 antitank mines, and 650,000 explosives have been cleared from 90 million square meters of land. Ten packages containing landmine parts which were due to be sent to afghanistan were snatched from the freight train when it stopped in warrington. A spokesman for the british embassy said iran could play a positive role in afghanistan, but support for the taliban was completely unacceptable. The americans used mine ploughs to clear mines and because of their shape barmines would fit through the tines and secure at least a mobility kill on the. Counterterrorism police are hunting for a consignment of anti tank mines stolen from a train. Though the ieds used against american soldiers in iraq and afghanistan are. The pfm1s version incorporates a selfdestruct mechanism. With more than 41,000 profiles, janes offers the only single resource for comprehensive, unclassified and uptodate intelligence on military equipment air, sea, land and space in production and.
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