Photographs of Minefield Areas in Lebanon

Le37-20: Demining at Souk el Gharb Hill 888 overlooking Ba'abda and Beirut International Airport. This position was a key military strong point during much of the fighting and a dense pattern of PMD-6 box mines was laid to strengthen defences. The terrain is rocky limestone with shallow stony soil, low prickly bushes and some grasses. The area is full of fragments from repeated shelling and domestic rubbish.

The soil contains high levels of iron mineralisation which may affect many metal detectors.

The only available method for deminers here is manual prodding because of dense metal fragments. I examined one small piece of ground 15 cm square by 10 cm deep and found two small fragments and one large one. The deminers cut the hard prickly bushes by hand, and then carefully prod every piece of ground using bayonets. The cleared area can easily be distinguished.

A crude hand-sketched map was provided by the defenders to the Army team clearing the mines.

Le37-23: Another view of uncleared area.

Le37-22: Deminers at work prodding.

Le37-25: Metal rubbish lying on the ground: copper wire from a destroyed transformer, tin can, broken radio antenna, aluminium can top, nails and screws and small shell fragments.

Le37-15: View of cleared area. Before being mined, the area was terraced: the remains of the low stone walls can be seen. PMD-6 box mines were laid along the stone walls about 1 metre apart. Shallow holes show where mines were found.

Le37-14: Ground surface (after clearance) showing rusty iron fragments lying on ground.

Photo le31-01: The Qadicha gorge which forms a natural barrier all the way to the coast which is about 25 km in the distance and about 2500 metres below this point. Gorges like this form natural barriers - some were confrontation lines during the war - and are common along the coastal mountain range.

The Tannourine forest lies just over the distant ridge on the mid left of the photograph.

Le99-11: Track off Hardath-Harrisop road towards Tannourine cedar forest, looking almost due west. Areas to left and right of road were mined. According to the commander, the army has had about 20 men clearing mines with hand prodding only (using bayonets) for about 2 months here, clearing the track and the adjacent land. Assuming a maximum clearance capacity of 10 sq metres per man per day, the area cleared probably does not exceed 8000 sq metres which is a small fraction of the area visible in the photo. The track seems safe: it is well used.

Le99-12: Looking north-west from the same position. The ridge in the distance was occupied by Syrian forces trying to gain ground from the militias. The militias were based in a valley about 2 km to the south of here. The ground we are standing on was no-mans-land and mined as a barrier to surprise attacks by night. The mines were laid at night under fire. The ground near the edge of the road has been ploughed and graded, probably by the army.

Le99-14: We are 200 metres further along the track towards the forest and looking north west again. The photo shows limestone rocks in the foreground and flatter ground sloping down towards the forest. This was where the commander tried to clear his own mines. The area seems appropriate for using mine detection dogs, but prickly seeds were apparent. These are seasonal, and dogs might have to be used in the early summer before the seeds appear. The area is covered with thick snow during the winter, and most people leave for the coast.

Le99-16: We are close to the start of the forest, looking south. The sign says "Hunting not permitted". This is partly because the forest is protected and conserving the trees means keeping people out as much as possible, but also because of mines.

Le99-17: Now that the forest track is safe, parties of locals come here for picnics but they keep to the track. The forest itself was not mined by the local militia. The trees are very beautiful.

Le99-19: View south east from forest track across another area which contains mines. Here there is evidence that the army has driven a bulldozer over the flatter areas to reduce the mine risk. However, the ground pressure from a bulldozer is less than human foot pressure, and the presence of rocks just beneath the surface further reduces the effectiveness of this method. Therefore, the ground should not be considered safe.

Le99-22: Close up of ground near forest entrance. The soil is dark with iron mineralisation (normal metal detectors may be useless in these conditions) and shallow over limestone rocks.

Le99-23: View of sandier lighter soil near Hardath-Harrisop road edge. The triangular metal plate turned out to be a mines sign with a large hole blasted in it.

Le99-24: The sign says "Algham" (Mines, though the word also means bombs, shells etc). The sign was presumably placed by the Army, and should still be in place: perhaps hunters have destroyed it.

Le99-25: View to the north-east up the Mt Lebanon range showing dark bands of iron-mineralisation and lighter bands of white rock. The land to the left has been bulldozed and ploughed (perhaps to reduce the mine risk?) and is due to be planted with walnut trees. The plants which have died off are very prickly, limiting the use of dogs. Dogs would have to be used before the prickly seeds appear in the summer time.

Le99-26: View looking north from same position showing prickly seeds.

Le99-30: View from road closer to Harrisop looking west towards the cedar forest. Shepherds in the valley in the foreground have received mine injuries. Snow and water may have dislodged mines into the ravines below.