Injuries caused by antipersonnel mines in Croatian Army soldiers on the East Slavonia front during the 1991-1992 war in Croatia

During the war in Croatia, antipersonnel mines were mostly laid without plan by both sides, with no minefield layout, especially on the East Slavonia front. A group of Croatian disabled war veterans wounded by antipersonnel mines at the East Slavonia front from June 1, 1991, to September 1, 1992, were analyzed. The front line between the Croatian Army units and Serbian paramilitary units mostly ran along a lowland, partially swampy and wooded ground, convenient for large-scale laying of antipersonnel mines, especially so-called surprise mines. Fifty-seven soldiers suffered injuries caused by antipersonnel mines, 27 (47.4%) of them by pressure-activated mines and 30 (52.6%) by pull-action mines. The severity of wounds was assessed according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). In the group of patients with wounds inflicted by pressure-activated mines, the mean AIS score was 4.0 +/- 0.7, with injuries to the lower extremities (mostly feet) ranging from foot-mutilating defects to partial lower-leg amputation. In the group of patients with injuries caused by pull-action mines, the mean AIS score was 3.0 +/- 0.9, indicating relatively minor injuries of different types according to the mechanism of wounding and localization. A failure to comply with mine-laying regulations made protection impossible and resulted in a relatively high proportion of the wounded. The same problems are now encountered on mine removal. According to estimates, at least 10 years of intensive work of 2,000 to 3,000 trained experts will be required to clear some 2 million mines laid all over the area.