AP-FRGA Mine in Libya

[Manniman]

Dear all,

I have found a Picture of a German DM31 mine in Libya

A government-backed fighter shows a disarmed anti-personnel mine planted by Islamic State militants in Sirte (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

I am sure that it is the DM31 mine, because of the unique fuse DM56A1B1

Can anybody help to identify the country of origin, the manufacturer and its way to Libya? (It is a German type, but almost certainly produced somewhere else. Lot code and date of production exclude former Bundeswehr stock)

Additional information:

• Article and Picture:http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/shells-beach-tanks-bombard-isis-mediterranean-coast-1574340
• Picture in HQ: https://s.yimg.com/os/en_us/News/Re...854_S1BETSTLASAA_RTRMADP_3_LIBYA-SECURITY.JPG
• DM31 mine: http://www.lexpev.nl/minesandcharges/europe/germany/dm31.html
• DM56 fuse (small modifications to shown DM56A1B1 fuse): http://www.lexpev.nl/fuzesandigniters/germany/dm56.html

 

[Bellifortis]

I can not help in answering the questions. But, what caught my eye, the mine was produced in January 1974, so it's 42 years old. Also the russian tank shell looks as if it is very, very old. Here in the West munitions that old would be condemned for destruction. But, apparently there still can be money made in selling old stuff like that to people who don't have so much money. And, by the way, Germany is not the only country that used the DM56A1B1. Switzerland and other countries also used it.
regards,
Bellifortis.

 

[BMG50]

When western technology becomes old and obsolete it tends to get sold to third world countries. New stuff tends to be beyond their budget.

 

[orpheus72]

Unforunately the Lotcode isn't completely visible, but i have "LAR" marked in my notes as "Libyan Arab Republic" (as a mine manufacturer)

 

[sgdbdr]

Makes sense, since Lybian ammunition stockpile was scattered amongst islamic groups after the fall of Khadafi...

 

[Spaceinvader]

Name a weapon system and chances are you could find it in Syria or another close country. It's very odd but interesting too.

 

[Manniman]

Thank you for your help.

Further pictures confirm LAR as LOT code and that plenty of mines are around Libya.
Even the wood boxes are identical to the original Bundeswehr ones!

Libyans load 12,000 anti-personnel mines to prevent them from being looted like sophisticated SA-24 and other shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) that have disappeared on September 7, 2011 in Tripoli, Libya. Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) is trying to secure sites where loyalist forces of former Libyan leader Moammar Ghaddafi shifted ordnance away from military bases, to protect it from NATO airstrikes. The missing SAMs have raised concerns about the weapons falling into the hands of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb or regional rebel groups.

Source: http://www.gettyimages.de/ereignis/...o-prevent-them-from-being-picture-id124002760

Thousands of abandoned anti-personnel mines, loose and in crates, lie in a disused industrial area close to the Khamis Brigade Barracks on the outskirts of Tripoli Photo: HEATHCLIFF O'MALLEY

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...i-weapons-dump-left-unguarded-in-Tripoli.html

My only remaining question is why the Mines are labeled in English language?
LAR = ...
http://jrad.unmict.org/webdrawer/webdrawer.dll/webdrawer/rec/201982/view/BIZIMUNGU%20ET%20AL%20-%20%20ANNEX%20TO%20EHIBIT%203D41%20TITLED%20STUDY%20OF%20TERRORISM%20IN%20RWANDA.PDF

I even found older pictures of the boxes

Landmines and explosive remnants of war caused 4,191 new casualties worldwide in 2010, five percent more than in 2009. (Reuters)

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/23/178754.html

 

[Manniman]

I am still wondering about the English labeling. Does anybody have additional LOT-LAR pictures of other items and further sources of LAR = "Libyan Arab Republic"?

Additionally a found out about a very interesting (and sad) issue concerning the DM31 mine.
The Bundeswehr bought about 1.1 to 1.64 million. In the 90`s about 800.000 were most likely destroyed.
Never the less Greek had 800.000 stockpiled in 2004. It can be assumed that these were the not destroyed ones from Bundeswehr stock. In the last decade Greece was forced to destroy them and did that through a Bulgarian company.
At the first of October 2014 in that company an explosion occurred and killed 15 workers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorni_Lom
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Gorni_Lom_explosions

By googling the village name or the event, pictures of Bundeswehr DM31 mine boxes can be found.

 

[pzgr40]

Not only German mines, I also see the AP mine Nr.442, made by the former PRB factory.

 

[fkw81]

I think its the DM31 Schützenspringmine but from a foreign license producer or an encrypted LOT code? The manufacturer for the Bundeswehr was LOS IWM=Industriewerke Karlsruhe.