With support from the University of Richmond

New perspectives on how history is made

Wartime cluster bombs still reap deadly harvest in Laos

NAM NEUN, Laos (AFP) — A man shapes a ball of C4 plastic explosive like a child with playdough, carefully inserts it into a hole at the side of the road, attaches an electric detonator, and walks away.

It's all in the name of saving lives.

He's not a soldier -- the war here in Laos ended more than 30 years ago -- but an explosives disposal expert trying to rid his country of the conflict's deadly legacy, which still kills and maims.

During the Vietnam war, neighbouring Laos, something of a sleepy Southeast Asian backwater, suddenly became the world's most heavily bombed country per head of population.
Read entire article at AFP