Afghanistan: Drones Used to Find Toy-Like “Butterfly” Land Mines

Dec 28, 2018 | Jeremy Hsu, Scientific American
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A type of land mine called the “butterfly” has a particularly insidious reputation for two reasons: It is known for killing or crippling children who may pick up what looks a lot like a green plastic toy, and its mostly nonmetallic construction means it often evades traditional mine detectors. Butterfly mines’ light-touch detonators go off easily if stepped on by a fighter—or farmer—and their relatively small charge often maims people without immediately killing them.