{"id":20225,"date":"2023-09-26T12:42:44","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T12:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectmasam.com\/eng\/?p=20225"},"modified":"2023-09-26T13:52:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T13:52:16","slug":"planted-to-kill-a-brief-history-of-landmines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectmasam.com\/eng\/planted-to-kill-a-brief-history-of-landmines\/","title":{"rendered":"Planted to kill: A brief history of landmines"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The first recorded use of an explosive device was by the Song Dynasty to fend off invading Mongolians in 13th-century China. In 16th-century Italy, so-called\u00a0 “fourgasses” were used in battlefields – cannons were buried in the soil and detonated to spread soil, rocks and rubble on soldiers passing nearby.<\/p>\n

During the American Civil War, General Gabriel Rains designed the first modern landmine to defend his outnumbered troops, leading to the first landmine-caused mass casualty in history.<\/p>\n

Germany then revised Rains\u2019 design in the years before World War I and developed the earliest version of an anti-tank mine in 1929. This technology was quickly copied by militaries around the world and was used to target opposing forces and defend borders.<\/p>\n

Today, the use of anti-personnel mines is banned in 164 countries under the United Nations Mine Ban Treaty (also known as the Ottawa Treaty), but despite this, mines continue to disproportionately disrupt civilian lives.<\/p>\n

Initially designed to maim opposing military forces, these weapons are now being used by the Houthi regime to cause terror, displacement, injury, and even death among Yemeni locals.<\/p>\n

Since their inception, mines have been used as a tool by militaries and while they can have devastating effects when used against anyone, they were never intended to target civilians.<\/p>\n