Non-combatants are often injured while clearing mines

Editor—Having worked for the HALO Trust—a British mine clearance organisation—as doctors (SH, EC) and mine clearers (PJ) in various parts of the world, we were interested in Hanevik and Kvåle's paper on landmine injuries.¹ We were surprised that most injuries were pattern 3 type as this type is uncommon in most populations after conflicts.²,³ We suspect that the explanation given by the authors, of accidental handling of landmines, is incorrect, and we offer an alternative.

In our experience of countries after war, the returning civilians commonly attempt to clear landmines themselves as there is usually a delay before formal landmine clearance operations start. The population must clear essential buildings and water sources and establish supplies of food; it is a calculated risk. These operations are usually attempted by young males, often with disastrous consequences. The high incidence of pattern 3 injuries reported by the authors may be due to the deliberate handling of munitions by young men trying to make an area safe for their community.

We have found that pattern 3 is a common injury type among professional de-miners. The high incidence of this injury pattern in a young male civilian population suggests that these civilians have been engaged in amateur mine clearance. This underlines the diverse dangers of landmines to non-combatants and reflects the need for the prompt intervention of professional mine clearance agencies once the conflict has been stabilised.