U.S. UXOs still threatening Lao villages

The unexploded ordnance (UXOs) the United States dropped some half century ago still pose threats to Lao villages, Lao state-run daily Vientiane Times reported Thursday.

UXOs from the Indochina war still pose a threat to 70 villages in Attapeu Province even though efforts to clear UXOs are ongoing, the report said.

In the remote southern Laos' province of Attapeu, some 570 km southeast of Lao capital Vientiane by aerial distance, more than 6,100 USOs were cleared in last year. Yet a large number of bombs are still being discovered, especially in Xaysettha district where over 800 have been found.

In recent years, Attapeu Province has cleared and destroyed approximately 15,700 UXOs, the majority of which (15,200) were cluster bombs.

A survey conducted by the Field Mission of Norwegian People's Aid-UXO Survey and Clearance (NPA) in Attapeu Province over the past five years (2010-2015) has found that 70 out of the total surveyed 174 villages are still living at risk of UXOs. Throughout the technical surveys, 750 locations were found to be at risk, covering an area of 40.92 square kilometers.

What's more, Laos expects to make a submission to UNESCO for world heritage listing of the Plain of Jars in northern Xieng Khuang province, some 200 km north of Vientiane.

However, Lao officials said removing unexploded ordnance (UXO) from remaining sites will be one focus of preparations for proposing the tourist attraction be listed as a world heritage site.

From 1964 to 1973, the United States dropped over 2 million tons of ordance on Laos in 580,000 bombing missions, the equivalent of one planeload every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years.

At least 270 million cluster bomblets were dropped as part of the bombing campaign, and approximately 80 million failed to detonate. Endit