Landmines in the Egyptian desert

The Western Desert of Egypt saw fierce fighting in WWII and its northern part, between El Alamein and the Libyan border, as well as the Qattara depression, was heavily mined. All mines have been eliminated between the coastal road and the sea, but further inland any number may still remain. The Qattara Depression was never cleared, and both the German and the British armies mined the northern parts, below the cliffs, to prevent the other from getting behind their lines. Given this situation, all parts of the Depression away from travelled roads and tracks are best avoided.

Tensions between Egypt and Libya resulted in some of the border areas being mined. At Jebel Uweinat there is a marked minefield (with large anti-tank mines) blocking the west side of the entrance of Karkur Talh (N22° 02.7' E25° 07.9'), and also at the low pass where the track skirts the northern spur of the mountain and continues towards the Libyan border at N22° 04.5' E25° 02.8'. It's also reported that there are mines near tracks passing a series of hills at N22° 04' E25° 16', about 20km NE of Uweinat where two red tracks join on the 1942 Uweinat map.

There are unconfirmed reports of mines at the pass between Peter and Paul, and mines may be expected at any easily blockable route close to the border. In February 1999 German tourists ran over a mine in the southern Gilf Kebir at the western entrance of the Wadi Wassa (N23 00.2', E25 51.3'), and it may be expected that the western reaches of the Wadi el Firaq are also mined; a vehicle hit a mine here in 1983 around N22° 53' E25° 47', half a kilometre from some iron poles and near a yellow drum.

There have been reports of the Aqaba Pass at the central Gilf Kebir being mined, however this seems extremely unlikely as countless vehicles have gone through this narrow pass overr recent years. Old reports suggested that the western entrance of Wadi el Gubba in the northern Gilf Kebir was also mined, but this too is unlikely. A Dakar Rally passed through here in 2000 as have several travellers since, taking the track rounding the western Gilf and heading for the entrance to Silica Glass valley (see p.000).

The recent minefields placed by the Egyptian army are marked with posts and barbed wire, and small stone cairns. If you see any obviously man-placed object (piles of stones, big slabs, steel drum, etc.) directly across the track, this is likely to be a warning sign for mines.


SOURCE
http://www.sahara-overland.com/mines/index.htm