The Balkans

Three Balkan countries, whch are now considered by their inhabitants as part of Europe, are severely contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance: zzzzzzzzBosnia Herzegovina zzzzzzzzCroatia zzzzzzzzKosovo This page introduces a report on the current situation in Bosnia herzegovina and Croatia. Given the similarities between them, it is useful to present a single report which, of course, also mentions the differences between them.

1. Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina

On the map, the green dots indicate the areas we were able to inspect on our trips to the region in 1999. The shaded pink area indicates the approximate extent of suspected mine and UXO contamination. Within this shaded area there are many unknown areas which may or may not be contaminated.

Certainly in financial terms, and probably also in land area, this is probably the worst mine problem in the world. Estimates vary, but up to 15,000 square kilometres of land is contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance. With clearance currently costing between US$2 and US$10 per square metre, and about 50 sq kilometres of land cleared in the last 5 years (of which only a small proportion has been fully checked and certified to be safe) progress is awfully slow. Here there is a desperate need for new technologies, even new ways to think about mine clearance. The mine and UXO problems have come mainly as a result of the fighting between 1990 and 1995 when the former Yugoslavia broke up and the new states of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina were formed. However, there are still some World War II munitions, particularly along the south coast of Croatia. We went there to learn about the technical problems faced by deminers. We identified some key problems which need to be solved: a) A reliable way to measure the quality of demining work being done b) A way to predict the performance of mine detection dogs: there have been several worrying results from performance testing in recent months. c) A way to check large areas covered with thick vegetation for the presence (and location) of mines and unexploded ordnance without having to clear the vegetation first.

Detailed Reports and Photographs

Detailed report on Landmines and Demining in Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia (James Trevelyan)

Photographs

Sarajevo and Central Bosnia (James Trevelyan)

Demining in Sarajevo (Dino Busuladzic)

Mostar and nearby minefields (James Trevelyan)

Slavonia - Eastern Croatia Demining (James Trevelyan)

Survey - Slavonia (James Trevelyan)

Report and Photographs (Saad Soliman) (to come)

2. Kosovo

Kosovo is a different case completely. The nature of the brief conflict in Kosovo was quite different: a war fought in two ways:

a) Air-dropped munitions from NATO forces attempting to destroy Serbian army units.

b) Conventional ground forces (Serbian and Kosovo Liberation Army) fighting a ground based campaign with mainly light weapons, including mines.

At the time of writing, demining operations in Kosovo have only just started, and it will take some time to build an accurate picture of the technical problems to be faced by deminers. Even after 5 years we are only just beginning to understand the problems in the other two countries, so it will take some time before we are as well informed on Kosovo.

However, some brief notes will indicate the type of problems to be faced. Also, the report on Bosnia and Croatia will show how demining is likely to be organised (hopefully better, learning from their experience), and the types of terrain likely to be faced.

Contrary to the impression one might gain from reading media reports, most of the air dropped munitions in Kosovo (which are causing problems for deminers) were not precision guided weapons, or if they were, the target positions were not known with great accuracy. Therefore, reports coming in show that the significant fraction of air-dropped munitions which did not explode are often not found in positions which NATO reports would indicate. (NATO has been as helpful as it can in providing details of what was dropped and where.) Cluster bombs, in particular, pose a major hazard because they are (often by now) covered with vegetation, and can explode from the influence of common metal detector electro-magnetic search fields.

Information on mine contamination is being gathered by preliminary survey teams. There are examples of nuisance and systematic mining in several areas, as well as booby traps on dwellings.

A computer database system provided by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining has been set up to deal with the mass of reports now coming in to the new mine action centre. Civilians, military and deminers are all reporting locations of UXO's and mines. One difficulty still to be faced is the low level of knowledge amoung civilians who often do not distinguish between different types of device: to them everything which looks dangerous is a mine. Often the position is only vaguely known, and the problem of dealing with all these reports will be significant in the future.

For the time being demining efforts are being focused at immediate priorities: utilities, hospitals, and the road transport network.

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Updated January 2000
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