Dak Nong (VNA) – Competent forces in Dak Mil district of the Central Highlandsprovince of Dak Nong, safely detonated a Mark 82 (MK82) bomb weighing 227kg onJuly 19.
The bomb,measuring 1.67m in length and 27.4cm in diameter, was detected by a resident inDak R’la commune on July 11 while he was planting pepper trees.
Dak Mil district’sarmed forces also deactivated 105mm and 130mm shells found in Duc Manh andThuan An communes on July 19.
According to the Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal under theEngineering Command, up to 7,645 of the 8,686 communes in Vietnam’s 63 citiesand provinces are still polluted with unexploded ordnances (UXOs).
The US army used more than 15 million tonnes ofbombs and mines in Vietnam during the war, four times the amount used in WorldWar II. As a result, Vietnam has been listed among those countries mostcontaminated with UXOs.
According to the National Steering Committee forRecovery of Postwar Bomb and Landmine Impacts, about 800,000 tonnes of UXOs arestill scattered across 6.6 million ha – or 20.12 percent of the country’ssurface area, mainly in the central region – putting people in danger everyday.
Vietnam has already cleared hundreds ofthousands of hectares of UXOs so far. -VNA
VNA