An explosive with global footprint

MALAPPURAM: The devices found were later identified as M18A1 Claymore anti-personnel directional landmines, developed for the US army by

Norman MacLeod

in 1956.

Police said each device, weighing 1.6kg and 8.5-inch long, have the capability to kill people within a range of 50 metres and maim those within its maximum range of 250 metres.

The Claymores were used during the wars in

Vietnam

, Cambodia, Iraq, Gulf,

Bosnia

, and

Afghanistan

, among other conflict zones.

The police’s preliminary investigation found that the mines were military ordinance, and were not purposefully planted near the bridge to harm anyone.

“We cannot rule out the theory that the devices were stolen from army camps and some of them were abandoned after they became useless. The army will conduct a detailed probe,” a police source said.