June 16, 2016
The lush green landscape of Laos’ northeastern Xieng Khouang province masks what almost a decade of conflict left behind. Millions of cluster munitions, known in Laos as “bombies,” are scattered among the rice fields and mountains, many buried deep below the surface.
From 1964 to 1973, during the Vietnam War, the U.S. dropped more than two million tons of bombs on Laos. The secret operation was part of an effort to cut North Vietnamese supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh trail, which ran through Laos to the south of Vietnam.
An estimated one third of the 270 million bombies dropped failed to detonate. Their legacy continues to hamper agricultural development in the region, making construction of homes and infrastructure a complex and dangerous proposition, and taking thousands of lives since the war ended.