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AFGHANISTAN |
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Minefield Pictures from AfghanistanSee also: Set 2 - more photos from the demining agencies Set 3 - Photos of residential area demining in Herat and Kabul (Palsson) Set 4 - Photos near Jalalabad (Smith) January 2002 Update: Kabul UXO Problems The image files are 100 - 200 kbytes each because we are anxious to make sure that the full quality of these photographs can be retained for you to view them. Each image will open in a new window. You can click on a link and view the rest of this page, or other images, while you wait for the new image to arrive.
A PMN mine exposed on a rocky hillside in Afghanistan. As many as 80% of the mines laid in Afghanistan are PMN mines like this, with trigger forces of 3 - 5 Kg. Photo courtesy of Mine Clearance Planning Agency, Islamabad. Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) ATC-28.jpg
A rocky hillside minefield in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar. Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb)
Soft ground hillside minefield. Irrigation ditch at bottom left, trenches and cottage at right. The work requires much careful digging as mines may be buried deep under the mud building material which will have been washed down by rain. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar. Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb)
Prodding using the recommended procedure. Deminer has exposed a PMN mine. Evidence from mine accident injury reports reveals that deminers squat most of the time. Photo courtesy of Mine Clearance Planning Agency, Islamabad. Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb)
Deminer working with a bayonet prodder in long grass. Notice long prodder and shovel/pick tool for digging. Photo courtesy of Mine Clearance Planning Agency, Islamabad. Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb)
Skin and bones of dead animal mark a suspected minefield. Photo courtesy of Mine Clearance Planning Agency, Islamabad. Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb)
Another suspected minefield - clothing or animal skin? Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) Deminer working with a metal detector (left) being watched at a "safe" distance by the deminer at right who is resting and watching his partner. "Safe" distance depends on type of mines found in the area. Photo courtesy of Mine Clearance Planning Agency, Islamabad.
Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) Another picture showing a 2 metre lane being cleared to define the edge of a minefield. The deminer is working in the distance, and his partner is a little closer. The group in the foreground are the team leader and visiting staff. Photo courtesy of Mine Clearance Planning Agency, Islamabad.
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Anti-tank mine exposed. This area has to be cleared by using a pick and a bayonet to dismantle the hard ground to remove a layer about 20 cm deep. There are too many metal fragments, which have sunk into the ground during rainy periods, to use a metal detector. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
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Afghanistan is a picturesque and beautiful country. Thorny vegetation in foreground covers a minefield. In the distance, there are remains of a village, also mined. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
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Typical hard stony ground in Afghanistan - excavation for suspected mine. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
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Steep road embankment has been overgrown with thick and thorny vegetation which has to be cleared to ground level before demining can start. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) (Before clearance)
Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) (After vegetation clearance)
Typical irrigation canal needing mine clearance in agricultural land. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
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Edge of a minefield in grazing land. The absence of vegetation shows that the land is still being grazed, otherwise vegetation would quickly cover the stony ground. Red painted rocks mark the surveyed minefield perimeter because fences would be stolen. Sometimes even the red rocks are stolen. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
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Start Point marks the reference point for a surveyed minefield. Red paint on the rocks is hard to remove or lose sight of. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
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Minefield around ruined elevated building - foreground shows what may have been trenches during fighting. Thick vegetation growth will have to be carefull removed. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
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Irrigation canal with steep stony sides which can be very dangerous work for deminers because stones can fall in, possibly on top of a mine being exposed. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) Thicker vegetation near a stream. The deminer is holding a stick which may be used to check for trip wires. Note the squatting position which is habitual in the region for many daily tasks. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) Low vegetation can sometimes be burnt before mine clearance, like this. Note the hard and stony ground surface. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) Mine excavation hole. Mine was placed just near a rock which could have provided cover for a fighter. Photo courtesy of Afghan Technical Consultants, Peshawar.
Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) Clearing an irrigation canal with a back hoe excavator. Irrigation canals were used for cover by Mujahadeen fighters so they were mined. Later, when mines failed to deter fighters from using the ditches, they were sometimes filled in by a bulldozer, burying the mines up to 1 metre deep. Here the excavator is removing mud from the irrigation canal, possibly with mines unexploded. Occasionally mines do explode so the cabin is armoured. Photo courtesy of UNOCHA, Islamabad (David Edwards).
Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) View from the cabin during canal clearance. Photo courtesy of UNOCHA, Islamabad (David Edwards).
Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) The observer (protected by full high velocity fragment armour) watches the back hoe to spot mines in the bucket or spoil. Mines which are seen are destroyed immediately. The spoil heap is marked as a mined area (red rocks) and left for clearance later. Photo courtesy of UNOCHA, Islamabad (David Edwards).
Click for full-size picture (up to 500 kb) Flat open agricultural land - easier work for deminers, though high winds can make the work uncomfortable. Photo courtesy of UNOCHA, Islamabad (David Edwards).
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(click for another page of pictures - a continuation of this collection)
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