By Kevin Bonsor
Landmines are explosive devices that are triggered by pressure or a tripwire; they're typically found on or just below the surface of the ground. Landmines are used by the military to disable any person or vehicle that comes into contact with it by an explosion or fragments released at high speeds. Since 1975, landmines have killed or maimed more than a million people, and are the subject of a worldwide effort to ban further landmine use and clear away existing landmines.
Landmines are cheap, easy-to-make, effective weapons that can easily be deployed over large areas to prevent enemy movements. They are usually placed in the ground by hand, but mechanical minelayers can also plow the earth, drop and bury mines at specific intervals. These intervals are often grouped into mine fields, which are meant to prevent an enemy fro¬m passing through a particular area, to force an enemy to move through a particular area, or to slow an enemy until reinforcements can arrive. While more than 350 varieties of mines exist, they can be broken into two categories: Anti-personnel (AP) mines and Anti-tank (AT) mines.
Anti-personnel landmines are designed to derail or push back foot soldiers from a given area. These mines kill or disable their victims, and are activated by pressure, tripwire or remote detonation. There are also smart mines, which automatically de-activate themselves after a certain amount of time. Anti-personnel mines fit into three basic categories: Blast Mines, Bounding, and Fragmentation mines. There are several-hundred different kinds of anti-personnel mines in use by many countries.
Anti-tank mines are similar to their anti-personnel cousins, but much larger. They are pressure activated, but typically designed so that they will not be triggered by the footstep of a person. Most anti-tank mines need an applied pressure of 348 to 745 pounds in order to detonate - typically, a tank or other military vehicle. Most of these mines are found on roads, bridges and large clearances where tanks may travel.
