Landmines Used By Qaddafi Forces in Nafusa Mountains

When Al Qawalish fell to the anti-Qaddafi forces on Wednesday, the rebels encountered a worrisome hazard — a large minefield along the left flank and, to a lesser degree, the front of a blocking position on the road.
Here, below, is a view of some of the nearly 50 anti-tank mines and 200+ anti-personnel mines the rebels retrieved from the dirt and have set aside, hopefully for eventual destruction. (It’s not immediately clear how the rebels will dispose of these mines. Though the rebel leadership has pledged not to use mines in this war, and to destroy the stocks it has inherited from the Qaddafi government, there is talk of recycling the mines as donor charges for future E.O.D work in Libya, which is now littered with unexploded ordnance that will likely take years to find and clear. So for now it’s not certain what will become of the particular items shown in this frame. They might be destroyed. They might be used for future demolition work. In the worst case, the rebels could violate their pledge and put them to darker uses, either using them in the war or selling them on.)

About the pic: Not sure what you are seeing? The anti-tank mines are obvious enough in the frame. The anti-personnel mines are in the red tub in the back left and also are visible in the crate in the right foreground. Never mind those long black sleeves in the center back, beneath the spare tire. They are inert air-to-ground rockets. And that is yet another story.
This blog and the At War blog ask for a considerable amount of your time as you follow the twists and turns of arms identification and tracing arms transfers hither and yon. On the subject of these mines, we’ll get that with time. But for now we’re working on an At War post about what the mines tell of something else — rebel military behavior. That said, I’m fighting balky internet and computer keys made sticky by the intrusion of sand. So please forgive any delays in getting the post written, the photos sent, and an edited version on-line.
OK, we’ll let those of you who enjoy ordnance I.D. cut ahead in the queue. Below is a detail shot of one of the AT mines. I think you can take it from there.

This in situ pic of the AP mine, below, is trickier. But I bet you can use it to make an I.D. of this one, too.

As soon as we can, we’ll have a full post up on At War. The use of mines in this war has already been established, so the post will approach these items from another angle.
Still interested in landmines in Libya? Human Rights Watch has done considerable work on these issues.  If you want background, go here or here. While you digest those, thank you for your patience as I try to get this damned laptop to play along. (Anyone have a hammer?)