Two Exploded Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams from Peace Trees Vietnam have detonated and removed two bombs in Huong Hoa district in central Quang Tri Province yesterday. The teams' head Nguyen Van Cuong told Vietnam News that the bombs were discovered in Thanh commune on the bank of the Se Pon river, near the border with Laos. The two bombs, weighing around 227kg each and 1.5m long with a diameter of 0.8m, were unearthed following torrential rains in the province last week. The bombs are believed to have been dropped by the US air force in 1968. Experts have so far discovered more than 20 bombs in this area. The EOD teams have found and removed seven bombs of this kind since 2009 following a historic flood that hit the province. An estimated 15 million tons of bombs, mines and explosives were used during the American War in Vietnam. At the current pace of detecting and defusing unexploded ordinance, it would take Vietnam about 300 years to completely clear the threats currently posed by the aftermath of the war, according to experts. (Vietnam News Sept 24)
