War is one of the most brutal aspects of human society. This policy tool has existed for as long as human societies. Despite the constant attempts of civilization to make military violence more controlled and unfolding within the framework of certain laws, war is still never done with white gloves. And as practice shows, many "everyday" human qualities, for example, compassion, have no place on it.
Mining of the territory is an important thing in the conditions of modern warfare. Especially in the context of guerrilla warfare or the retreat of the army. When the German army retreated during the Second World War, it did not mine except the air around it. The Soviet, Allied and Finnish sappers had to get rid of this "echo of war" for more than one year after the end of the conflict. Since then, booby traps have become a sad practice in modern warfare.
Trapping is a science and, in a sense, an art. Science, because mining, like the measures to combat it, is constantly evolving. Art - because every new armed conflict on the planet brings ever more insidious, sophisticated and frightening examples of this perverse creativity.
Those who served in the army and were subordinate to normal commanders should remember very well that foreign objects in the combat zone should not be touched, since they can be part of a trap. For example, in Afghanistan, spooks managed to insert TNT traps even into “empty” AK stores. Such shops were scattered in settlements with the expectation that some inexperienced Soviet soldier would raise it in order to appropriate it and use it as a spare. At the first attempt to fill it with cartridges, the detonator went off, the soldier was killed or maimed.
However, much more often simpler, but no less effective traps are used. There are even known cases when the doors of refrigerators and toilet seats were mined. A very popular trap is the cat reception in the closet.
This trap was first described in the army magazine "Soldier of Fortune" in the 1990s. It was invented by fighters who participated in the conflict in Bosnia. The bottom line is very simple: a cat is put into the closet, a stretch is placed on the door. Sooner or later, the animal begins to meow, as it cannot get out on its own. Anyone who tries to save him will die.
Continuing the topic, read about why during World War II foil was dropped from aircraft.