Unexploded Submunition Safely Destroyed Following Community Report in Vonglakhon Village in Southern Laos.
On the morning of 9 July, Ms. Nouk, a resident of Vonglakhone Village, Phouvong District, Attapeu Province, discovered an unexploded bomb while cutting grass in front of her house. Recognizing the danger, she immediately marked the location so she could report it to NPA.
The following day, while NPA’s survey team was in the village conducting assessments to support future clearance activities, Ms. Nouk informed the team about the bomb. It was later identified as a bomblet, an explosive item released from a cluster bomb unit. NPA confirmed that the location is within an area already selected for clearance and the team safely destroyed the unexploded bomb.
NPA began clearance in Vonglakhone Village starting on 2 July. In the same week that Ms. Nouk reported the bomb, NPA teams discovered and safely destroyed more than 200 similar unexploded bombs in the village.
NPA sincerely thanks the Government of the United States through the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane for the valuable support to our mine action work in Lao PDR. This support is vital in saving lives and making communities safer.
