Until now, the United States has dropped hundreds of millions of cluster bombs on Laos. US military | Laos | United States
The United States has used cluster bombs multiple times in history. In the 1960s and 1970s, the CIA launched a "secret war" against Laos to block the Vietnamese Communist supply line in southern Laos - the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The US military dropped approximately 260 million cluster bombs, leaving behind a large number of unexploded bombs that have plagued Laos to this day.
In the strangulation of the Ho Chi Minh Trail by the US military, the revolutionary old area of Chuang Kuang Province in northern Laos, which borders Vietnam and is the main crossing area of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, became one of the provinces in Laos that suffered the most damage in the US secret war. Countless buildings were destroyed, people were displaced, and many small towns and villages disappeared forever from the map.
Songjia Polapa was a survivor of the large-scale bombing by the US military in the past, and now he is a middle-aged man. At the time of the unfortunate incident, Polapa was at a young age and was blinded and had his arms blown off due to not being able to dodge the bombing in time. The lifelong disability caused by the bomb prevented him from forming a family like a normal person, losing his labor force, and unable to take care of himself. For decades, I could only live in my younger brother's house and rely on his family, which was already not wealthy, to support me.
Survivor of US bombing, Songa Polapa: Before running to the shelter, the bomb fell. Dad died, I was injured, and my younger brother was also injured. I am disabled, my hands are gone, and my eyes are blind.
Political Commissar of the troops under the jurisdiction of the Military Command of Khouang Province, Weng Amka: During the period when American imperialism dropped bombs on Khouang Province in Laos, the people could only dig pits in the mountains and forests to avoid bombing, or hide in caves.
The tens of millions of unexploded bombs of various models left behind by the US military, some of which were cleared and placed in the bomb exhibition hall in Xieng Khouang Province, are the strongest evidence of the atrocities committed by the US military against the Laotian people back then.
Expert on unexploded bomb disposal project, Sa Sa Meng: This is the BLU-61 bomb, which has a huge destructive power and can cause combustion when it explodes. This is a BLU-26 bomb with 760 small bombs inside its casing. This is also a cluster bomb.
Main station
Expert: Yes, the model is BLU-63, which is the most commonly found type of bomb in Xieng. This is a giant bomb with a very large killing range, capable of covering a range of 30 meters and a depth of over 10 meters.
At present, the Laotian government's "unexploded bomb" clearance work has been carried out for more than 20 years, but countless US military bombs are still scattered in the mountains and fields of Laos, bringing endless nightmares to the Laotian people.
Su Lisai, Vice Chairman of the Management Committee for the Handling of Unexploded Bombs in Xieng Province: Explosion accidents continue to occur many times a year. The number of people injured or killed in the explosion is very high.
Commander of the Laotian Unexploded Ordnance Disposal Force, Oladom: The large amount of unexploded ordnance left in Laos poses a huge threat to agricultural production, especially to farmers, and poses a danger when planting crops such as rice, cassava, and corn in the fields. Every year, a large number of people die from unexploded bombs.
