When the NVA backed Pathet Lao army started fighting the right-wing Royal Lao army, the US led secret bombing missions in North East and Southern Laos, hence the term the 'Secret War'. Southern Laos was bombed as the NVA used this area to transport men and weapons from the north of Vietnam towards Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) in Vietnam - these jungle routes became infamously known as the 'Ho Chi Minh Trail'.
As most of the routes were well hidden the decision was taken to indiscriminately bomb entire swathes of the country. In the province where i was staying (Xieng Khouang), virtually every town and village was bombed during 1964 - 1974. Other reasons were when a bombing run was aborted over Vietnam, rather than taking the risk of landing the bombers back at US bases laiden with explosives, they simply dropped their pay load on Laos.
Thousands of Lao people lost their lives and massive movements of refugees were created.
The indiscriminate nature of the bombing to me was a serious crime against humanity.
Daniel and I went to the permanent UXO (Unexploded Ordinance Visitor Centre) opened and maintained by a British Charity the 'Mines Action Group - MAG' which has been engaged in removing UXO. It was here i took these photos...
The areas in red indicate bombed areas....
One of most heavily used forms of munitions were cluster bombs. The most common unit would disperse 670 tennis ball sized bomblets across a wide area. These are known to the locals as 'Bombies'. The rotation of each ball would arm the fuse and on impact, 300 ball bearings embedded in the shell would be propelled at explosive velocity. If the bombs were dropped at too low an altitude, or fell into mud or water, they would fail to arm or simply not explode and remain on the ground as unexploded ordinance.
This is a serious problem as it keeps people from cultivating more land and the tennis ball shaped bomblets are appealing to children. The soaring price of scrap metal has also led to increased injuries and fatalities. I was told just a few days ago, a 13 year old boy using a stick to clear a path across a paddy (rice) field was killed...
There's quite a famous documentary called 'Bombies' about the secret war which we watched that day. Its the kind of film which leaves you with a hollow feeling in your stomach..its left a terrible legacy on a lovely, gentle people...almost half the casualties since 1974 have been children....
This link has more info ....
Bombies
Appallingly, cluster bombs continue to be used by the US and NATO .....
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