Combating explosive legacy of occupation

Tucked away in the middle of the sprawling UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura is a simple, single-storey building that once housed meetings of the five-nation Monitoring Group. A sign reading “Monitoring Group Conference Room” still hangs on the front door and the table around which the delegates from Lebanon, Syria, France, “Israel” and the United States sat is still in place in the center of the room.
The group attempted to protect civilians on both sides of the border from violence between the resistance and the occupying forces in accordance with the 1996 April Understanding.
But today the room is used to combat a different violence that continues to kill and wound despite “Israel’s” troop withdrawal from the South last May.
UNIFIL estimates there are 130,000 land mines throughout the former border enclave ­ the deadly legacy of occupation that will take decades to eradicate.
But before mine-clearing operations can begin effectively, it is necessary to gather detailed information on the exact location and size of minefields as well as the variety of mines that might be uncovered.
The United Nations contracted the three-man Mine Action Coordination Cell (MACC) to gather and collate this data.
Piles of maps lie on tables, more large-scale maps of mine-infested areas in the South are pinned to the wall and a bank of computers hidden beneath dust covers wait for information to be punched in.
Lying open on the central table are four folders containing data on the 70,000 land mines and 288 booby-trapped devices that the “Israeli” Army admits having planted in Lebanon.
“We have two problems,” said Greg Lindstrom, a New Zealander who heads MACC. “The first problem is dealing with the “Israeli” mines and the second are the mines about which we have no information at all.”
Included in the latter category are mines planted by Palestinian and Lebanese militias, the Syrian Army and even the Vichy French Army during World War II.
The bulk of the “Israeli” mines are contained in 188 minefields along the border ­ a lethal uninterrupted cordon from Ras Naqoura on the coast to opposite Shibaa in the Mount Hermon foothills. Other “Israeli” mines surround former outposts.
The map references of each minefield is noted along with the date it was established and the quantity and type of mines planted. For example, between May and June 1994, the “Israelis” surrounded the Blat outpost in the western sector ­ one of Hizbullah’s favorite targets ­ with 2,012 No. 4a anti-personnel mines.
Accompanying the figures are simple sketch maps with penciled measurements showing the perimeter of the minefield and the direction of the rows of mines.
“Some of these maps are written in Hebrew which is causing a problem. Also we don’t have maps to accompany the statistics for all the minefields,” Lindstrom said.
Other than the conventional land mine data, the “Israelis” also listed the booby-trapped devices.
In most cases the booby-traps consisted of ammunition, such as artillery shells, rigged to hidden explosive charges. When the shell is picked up, the charge explodes, killing the victim. But the “Israelis” also used unconventional means to ensnare the unsuspecting, including booby-trapped flak jackets, radars and even an Amal flag. In the last few years of the occupation, cameras became a popular lure.
“Two cameras, in each one, two No. 4 demo block and two RDX sticks attached to a No. 16 igniter,” reads one laconic description of a booby-trap planted in June 1999.
On one of the wall maps, the locations of the booby-trapped weapons are indicated by a rash of red dots running along ­ and more often north of ­ the perimeter of the zone. The largest clusters are found in the dense undergrowth around Yater in the western sector and along Wadi Salouqi facing the central sector ­ both used by the resistance to launch attacks and for fighters to penetrate the zone.
Lindstrom explained that MACC has conducted what is known in mine clearing parlance as a Level One Survey. This entails collecting all available information to determine the whereabouts of minefields and unexploded ordinance, such as shells, bullets or hand grenades.
The team also assesses the socio-economic impact of a minefield. A minefield on agricultural property or in a populated area will receive swifter attention than one planted in a remote, unproductive location.
The MACC team is now waiting to begin the Level Two Survey which involves precisely delineating the perimeter of each minefield.
Lindstrom, a former munitions expert in the New Zealand Army, has worked in mine clearance in Cambodia and Mozambique, two of the worst mine-afflicted countries in the world.
“It’s important to realize the impact the fear of mines can have,” he said.
Lindstrom cited the example of an area in Mozambique which had become depopulated because the local residents believed it was infested with land mines. “But we discovered only one land mine there,” he recalled.
The result of the operation allowed some 5,000 people to return to their land and begin  rebuilding their communities while at the same time relieving the capital, Maputo, which had been forced to accommodate the refugees.
Lindstrom said he hoped to have the Level Two Survey completed by the end of March, “but it depends on funding.”
The information from the Level One and Two surveys is used to draw up detailed maps and entered into a computerized database for future reference.
Not only does such a system help in mine-clearing operations, it also assists in planning infrastructure work. For instance, the system will enable a map of the South containing all minefields to be superimposed over a similarly-scaled map of a proposed water irrigation network. Planners would be able to tell at a glance which areas required mine clearance in order for pipelines to be laid and ditches to be dug in safety.
Lindstrom said that the process was “slow and methodical” but would eventually help make the South a safer place to live and work.
“No one likes to see young people being killed and maimed after the hostilities have finished,” he said. “It’s a needless waste of life.” 

1-     The Daily Star, 18-1-2001.