President Thongloun Sisoulith talks to reporters about unexploded ordnance clearance in Laos.

UXO threat still haunts Laos, even after 30 years of munitions clearance

Secretary General of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President of Laos, Thongloun Sisoulith, has called for stronger national and international action to speed up the removal of unexploded ordnance, to prevent more people being killed and injured.
In an interview given to mark 30 years of the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao), President Thongloun reflected on the country’s painful history, saying unexploded ordnance remains a severe threat to the lives and livelihoods of Lao citizens.
“Even today, these problems remain a severe threat to the lives and livelihoods of the Lao people,” he said.
The President recalled how Laos suffered massive aerial bombardment during the Second Indochina War from 1964 to 1973, when more than 580,000 combat flights dropped over 2 million tons of bombs on Lao territory, averaging one flight every eight minutes for nine years.
An estimated 270 million cluster munitions were dropped, making Laos the most heavily affected country in the world per capita.
The bombing destroyed infrastructure and reduced the population to around 3 million people, the President said, adding that this was one of the reasons for Laos being categorised as a least developed country.
After the war, about 30 percent of cluster munitions, amounting to about 80 million small explosive devices, remained in the ground. When accidentally struck, they explode, causing injuries, disability, and deaths on a yearly basis.
“After the war, we thought we would be safe, but we are still not safe. People who were alive have suddenly disappeared and died. This is the pain that people still suffer,” President Thongloun said.
The government made UXO clearance a national priority and established the National UXO Programme under Prime Ministerial Decree No. 49 on February 13, 1996.
With support from the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund and other development partners, UXO Lao operates as a humanitarian clearance organisation.
The President said UXO clearance is closely linked to poverty alleviation because it allows people to use land safely for farming and supports national development.
Laos has followed the “Safe Path Forward” strategy in three phases, from 2003-2010, 2011-2020 and 2021-2030, and integrated UXO action into national development planning, he added.
Laos also established Goal 18, “Lives Safe from Unexploded Ordnance”, as a national target under the Sustainable Development Goals.
Laos is also the only country in the world to adopt an additional national Sustainable Development Goal.
The government introduced the goal in 2016 in partnership with the United Nations, recognising that unexploded ordnance left over from the Secret War is a major barrier to development and human safety.
President Thongloun said Laos was the second country to sign and ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2008, hosted the First Meeting of States Parties in 2010, and will chair the Third Review Conference in Vientiane this year.
He added that Laos must strengthen resource mobilisation and use more technology in UXO surveys and clearance because at the current pace it could take hundreds of years to finish the work.
“After the war ended more than 50 years ago, we are still falling, dying, and being injured wrongly because of the remnants of that war,” he said.
UXO Lao currently has 1,705 staff, including 492 women, and 148 field teams operating in nine provinces.
The programme has recorded 747 UXO-related incidents and 1,233 casualties since 2008, including 919 injuries and 314 deaths.
In 2025, there were 15 accidents and 25 casualties, while in 2026, two accidents and seven casualties have been recorded to date.
From 1996 to February 5, 2026, UXO Lao staff have deactivated 2,086,324 items of ordnance, including 1,253,828 cluster munitions.
Non-technical surveys have taken place in 3,124 villages, while technical surveys identified 254,235 hectares of hazardous areas. Unexploded munitions have now been removed from 101,569 hectares.
Since 2015, the programme has assisted 1,850 accident survivors and conducted 42,444 risk education sessions.
President Thongloun said the Lao people know the pain of war and must continue to work together for peace and safety.
“The past—even though we Lao people try to forget it, we cannot forget it. Rather, looking to the future, how will we help build our world, and how will we make sure there is no more war in our country?—That’s how I think,” he said.

By Phonepaseuth Volakhoun
(Latest Update February 13, 2026)