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CROATIA |
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Minefield Pictures from CroatiaDuring an excursion from the SusDem97 Conference in Zagreb I took the following photographs. I also have a videotape which I may be persuaded to copy if you really need it. We visited the Karlovac region south of Zagreb which had been on the confrontation line between Croat and Serb forces in Krajina region (pronounced like 'Hyena'). This area has many minefields. The image files are 200 - 700 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.
John Dean (EEC Joint Research Centre ISPRA), David Daniels (ERA Ltd, GP Radar), Davor Antonic (Croatia Interior Ministry), Carl Johan Persson (Ambassador for Sweden, coordinator of land mine issues), Russell Gasser (Univ. Warwick UK) inspecting a machine developed by Croatian Police for clearing AT mines. We were told it had not been successful because it had become bogged in the soft marshy ground in this region.
Military storage facility in Karlovac Region - cleared of mines and booby traps by hand.
(Left) Typical vegetation growing in minefields in Karlovac Region. Deminer is setting fuse for 1 kg TNT charge. (Right) Result of clearing vegetation shown above with 1 kg TNT "torpedo" -- about 6 sq metres cleared but saplings of 25mm diam or more remain standing (but stripped of leaves).
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(Left) Viper minefield clearance line charge ready to deploy. The small mortar at left fires the bolt (lying in the box) over the minefield dragging the line charge with it. The line charge is then detonated in a separate operation. In this demonstration, the line charge is to be used for clearing vegetation to form an access pathway into a minefield about 30 cm wide, enough for a manual demining team to scan with a metal detector. (Right) The result of the line charge detonation. Parts of the intended pathway have been cleared, but other parts remain covered with thick bushes where the line charge fell on top of the vegetation, and thus did not clear to ground level.
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Line charge mortar with fuse cutting bolt ready to fire at a mine to destroy the fuse mechanism by severing it from the mine body. This worked, but left a (live) detonator in the body of the mine, possibly in an unstable state. The mine was a training dummy.
New Schiebel metal detector for demining - note the narrow coil and the telescopic extending handle being held by David Daniels (ERA Ltd UK).
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Minefield near Karlovac (Stephen Salter, Edinburgh Uni, UK at right). A car damaged by intense fighting lies on the pathway upside down. Apartment block behind has been reduced to a shell. Thick vegetation has started to grow making demining difficult - booby traps likely as well.
Same location as previous photograph looking 120 degrees to the left at thickly vegetated mined area.
A little further on past the apartment block across yet more minefield, this time laid in the rubbish strewn around when the buildings were first occupied and looted.
Damaged factory buildings - scene of heavy fighting and surrounded with mines, booby trapped as well.
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