Angolascene9

Andy Smith
Mine action specialist

Mined area Indicators – Washout scene

Sheet 25 Washout scene
(Page 1)

The picture shows a dry stream bed on the side of a hill. There is a lookout position on top of the hill and this has been mined defensively more than once during the fighting.

Heavy rainfall has washed some of the mines into the stream bed and down the side of the hill. If you look closely, you can see some of them.

Suggested messages:

Water can move mines from the place they were laid.
When mines are placed on a hill, the area below the minefield may also be dangerous.

Sheet 26 Washout
(Page 2)

The red arrows point to the indicators that can be seen in the picture. From the top they show:

A POMZ-2M fragmentation mine.
A MAI-75 blast mine.
A PPM-2 blast mine.
A coil of rusted tripwire discarded when the POMZ mines were laid.

The pictures on the right show:

A – A POMZ-2M fragmentation mine on a wooden stake with an MUV tripwire operated fuze. Above the fuze are the parts that drop away when it is armed and several MUV arming pins that may be discarded when mines are laid.

B – A wooden tripwire spool. Tripwire spools may be made of wood, metal or plastic. They are usually a camouflage colour or bare wood. The presence of any spool or reel that could have held tripwire is an indicator that the area may be mined.

C – A MAI-75 blast mine that is 95mm (3¾”) in diameter and contains 120g TNT. The mine has a black or brown bakelite body and can be hard to detect. The picture shows a mine with its arming clip still in place. The clip prevents accidental operation of the mine. When the mine is laid, the clip is removed and may be discarded.

D – A PPM-2 blast mine that is 134mm in diameter (about 5¼”) and contains 110g TNT. The mine has a black plastic body and a large metal content that usually makes it easy to detect. The arming pin that must be removed to activate the mine is shown alongside it. This may be discarded when the mine is laid.

E – A metal stake used to attach the other end of a tripwire when laying the POMZ-2M mines. Wooden stakes are also used. Although painted green when new, many stakes have been in place so long that they have rusted and may be very hard to see.

F –. Several kinds of tripwire. Some wire is plastic coated, some painted, and some bare. When the wire is laid, extra wire may be thrown aside.

Suggested messages:

Water can move mines and indicators from the place they were laid.
Tripwire spools, wooden or metal stakes, scraps of tripwire, arming pins and clips from mines are all indicators of the presence of mines.
Mined areas rarely have clear boundaries and should be avoided by a wide margin whenever possible.