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Effect of Minefields
on Vegetation Growth
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| Photo hr1-02: "Arizona Highway" from Tuzla
north into Eastern Slavonia. This land is on the Croatian side of
the border and shows typical agriculture in the region. |
Photo hr1-01: "Arizona Highway" from Tuzla
north into Eastern Slavonia. This land is on the Republika Srbska
side of the border and shows what happens after the land has been
mined and left for 8 years. This land was almost the same as the land
in the other photo 02. |
Western Slavonia
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Photo hr-16: Town centre of Pacrac in western Slavonia, Croatia,
and scene of intense fighting. Many buildings have been restored,
but known minefields start just behind these buildings and extend
for a kilometre or more. The status of land beyond that is unknown.
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| Photo hr1-20: The end product of demining and resettlement:
a repaired house with enough land around it to grow vegetables, rabbits,
chickens and perhaps a pig or two. |
Photo hr2-19: Close up of demined "yard" two weeks after
deminers have finished: note the vegetation growth rate.
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| Photo hr1-21: Believe it or not this is a village, but
all the buildings have been covered by vegetation in the 9 years since
the occupants were forced to flee. Restoring these villages is expensive
and may not be justified. Detailed population records are available
and the village will be abandoned if the population was in steep decline
in the years before the war. |
Photo hr1-22: A house just 2 metres from the road edge.
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| Photo hr1-24: A ruined house in the village being inspected. |
Photo hr1-25: A ruined house can just be made out behind
this vegetation which has been growing since 1991 when the original
occupants of this Serb village in northern Slavionia were forced to
flee. This poses a huge problem for deminers. |
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| Photo hr1-26: Another ruined house, possibly mined. |
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Slavonsky Brod
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Photo: belarty-wkshp: Belarty demining machine in tank factory
at Slavonski Brod for upgrading the hydraulics and overhauling
the flail after 40 AT mine explosions. (composite photograph)
The flail is mounted on a telescopic arm which extends and
rotates on the turret base. This gives the machine great versatility.
Although the chassis is heavy (approx 60 tonnes all-up) the
wide T55 tank tracks exert relatively little pressure on the
ground, enabling the machine to work on soft ground. The road
network in Croatia is in good condition (thanks to extensive
reconstruction) so mobility is not a major problem.
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This machine is being used because it can work
between trees with minimal damage to the trunks. |
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Photo hr2-01: Demining site near Sava river. This was a recreation
area and the local authorities need it back so the nearby inhabitants
of Slavonsky Brod have somewhere to cool off. The vegetation was
cleared with the Belarty flail three weeks before this phot was
taken: note the rate of re-growth.
The area is being cleared with a combination of machines (Belarty
flail), dogs and manual demining.
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Photo hr2-02: Aircraft parts from a crashed Mig-21 litter
the area - here is a frag pit being overgrown. |
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| Photo hr2-03: View of ground surface after flail treatment:
deminers clear lanes by metal detector and probes, and the areas between
the lanes are checked by dogs. The ground is relatively soft and easy
for probing, but the rate of progress is quite slow. |
Photo hr2-04: Shattered tree (right of centre) which
deminers think is the impact point where a Mig-21 fighter crashed
and exploded on impact. The scattered fragments (mostly aluminium)
make demining difficult. Most of the mines were PMDR-6 stake fragmentation
mines, with some PROM-1 and PMA-2 blast mines. |
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| Photo: hr2-05: Frag pit containing Mig-21 aircraft parts. |
Photo hr2-06: View of across cleared area towards uncleared area,
clearly showing the vegetation which the Belarty machine has cut.
The area in the foreground was originally a diversion canal which
carries excess flood water into the river behind us.
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Photo hr2-07: Remains of vegetation cut by Belarty machine heaped
and drying before being burnt. The trees have been intentionally
left unharmed as this is a public recreation area.
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Photo hr2-08: Close up of uncleared area behind red
tape. The tape is actually reinforced with thin wire: a measure to
improve the durability of markings. |
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Photo hr2-10: Bank of Sava river at Slavonski Brod cleared by deminers
three weeks earlier. This shows just how quickly the vegetation
grows in the summer season. The opposite bank is Republika Srbska.
To deter tank attacks across the river (which is quite shallow in
the autumn and winter, and easily crossed by Yugoslav Army tanks)
500 kg dynamite tank traps were prepared in the river beaches, using
AT mines as the trigger on top. No one is quite sure where these
traps were, or what has become of them now.
Why 500 kg of dynamite rather than ordinary AT mines? I was told
that an ordinary AT blast mine simply disables and immobilises a
tank. Serb forces had limited supplies of the TMRP-6 shaped charge
mine which penetrates tank armour and destroys the interior. Croat
forces only had large stocks of commercial dynamite, and they wanted
a trap which would make following tank commanders turn and flee
rather than risk being tossed around on a huge blast.
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Photo hr2-24: Demining site office: a well laid-out
site often corresponds with high quality work. |
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| Photo hr2-13: Deminer in full protective suit with Minex
detector. The detector electronics are shoulder mounted for comfort.
However, this is not necessarily efficient for one-man operation in
which the detector must be taken on and off frequently. |
Photo hr2-14: Protective overshoes (which seemed to be in near
new condition, and not frequently used), probe, vegetation tools.
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Photo hr2-15: Protective suit, helmet, knee pads, gardening gloves,
probe and folding shovel.
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Photo hr2-17: Series of brush cutting tools in site
workshop and tool shed. |
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| Photo hr2-18: Well equipped tool shed at site provides
flexible support for machinery. |
Photo hr2-19: Support vehicles at the site. The front
end loader is only used on cleared areas: the Blarty flail machine
is used on uncleared ground. |
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| Photo hr2-20: Alternative "front ends" for
the Belarty flail. Most of the work done here used the smallest flail
head to fit between the trees. |
Photo hr2-21: Single chain from Belarty flail machine
with replacement hammer. |
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Photo hr2-11: Mine detection dog with deminer dressed in full protective
gear behind him. The protective suit did not seem to be frequently
worn.
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Photo: hr2-23: Test strip for mine detection dogs operated
by ABC Construction at their Slavonsky Brod site. |
Nova Gradiska
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| Photo hr2-27: A ruined church being inspected from the
road. Information from local people leads to the conclusion that there
are at least 4 anti-tank mines around the church. Local people started
to clear vegetation until they discovered mines and UXO. Mortar impacts
on the road reveal extent of shelling in the area. |
hoto hr2-30: There is a ruined house beyond this vegetation which
is about 2 - 3 metres high. Steel fence posts can just be made out:
the rest of the fence has been stolen. A rusty appliance lies where
it was left for looters to collect.
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| Photo hr2-31: Demining site around culvert just south
east of Nova Gradiska. Only the area immediately surrounding the culvert
has been cleared so that the culvert itself can be replaced. |
Photo hr2-32: Another view on the other side of the culvert, showing
the thick vegetation which deminers have to work through by hand.
The steep slopes either side of the road and drainage channel cannot
be accessed by machines.
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| Photo hr2-33: Another view of the cleared area around
the culvert |
Photo hr2-34: Repaired and restored house: the occupier
removed about 100 unexploded mortar rounds from his fields before
deminers warned him of the danger. |
Two Interesting Pictures
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| Photo hr2-35: Minefield sign. An experienced deminer
drove past this sign for several months before he realised what it
meant. The road passes through extensive minefields near Osijek and
Vukovar in Eastern Slavonia. |
Photo hr2-36: Probe made in Italy. Deminers like this
one. The point can be unscrewed and screwed into the handle for storage.
This protects the point and other equipment. |
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