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A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automatically by way of pressure when a target steps on it or drives over it, though other detonation mechanisms are also sometimes used.〔 〕 A land mine may cause damage by direct blast effect, by fragments that are thrown by the blast, or by both. The name originates from the ancient practice of military mining, where tunnels were dug under enemy fortifications or troop formations by sappers. These killing tunnels ("mines") were at first collapsed to destroy targets located above, but they were later filled with explosives and detonated in order to cause even greater devastation. Nowadays, in common parlance, land mines generally refer to devices specifically manufactured as anti-personnel or anti-vehicle weapons. Though many types of improvised explosive devices ("IEDs") can technically be classified as land mines, the term ''land mine'' is typically reserved for manufactured devices designed to be used by recognized military services, whereas ''IED'' is used for makeshift devices assembled by paramilitary, insurgent, or terrorist groups. The use of land mines is controversial because of their potential as indiscriminate weapons. They can remain dangerous many years after a conflict has ended, harming the economy and civilians of many developing nations. With pressure from a number of campaign groups organised through the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a global movement to prohibit their use led to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. Currently, a total of 161 nations are party to the ''Ottawa treaty''. ==Use== Land mines were designed for two main uses: * To create defensive tactical barriers, channeling attacking forces into predetermined fire zones or slowing an invading force's progress to allow reinforcements to arrive. * To act as passive area-denial weapons (to deny the enemy use of valuable terrain, resources or facilities when active defense of the area is not desirable or possible). Land mines are currently used in large quantities mostly for this first purpose, thus their widespread use in the demilitarized zones (DMZs) of likely flashpoints such as Cyprus, Afghanistan and Korea. As of 2013, the only governments that still laid land mines were Myanmar in its internal conflict, and Syria in its civil war.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Landmines in Myanmar: Politically explosive - The Economist )〕 Land mines continue to kill or injure at least 4,300 people every year, even decades after the ends of the conflicts for which they were placed.〔"()". Landmine Monitor 2012. Page 1. November 2012.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Land mine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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