Lao army officials welcome their Russian counterparts for talks to discuss assistance for UXO clearance in Laos.

Russian army extends support for UXO clearance

Russian military personnel will assist members of the Lao People’s Army in the clearance of unexploded ordnance in Nakai district, Khammuan province.
The two sides will work together under a plan of operation drawn up between Laos’ Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.
They will discuss methods of explosive ordnance disposal and provide training for Lao soldiers in Nakai district.
The Russian team consists of 24 army personnel, who arrived at Wattay International Airport on November 17 and will work with their Lao counterparts until November 24.
Deputy Head of Office of the General Staff Department of the Lao People’s Army, Colonel Phathana Boudthichak, led Lao officials in welcoming the group.
He thanked Colonel Sergei Abramov, Head of the Department of Military Engineering, and his colleagues for coming to Laos.
The two sides will discuss preparations for UXO clearance, the training to be given to Lao soldiers, and the areas in Nakai district to be surveyed and cleared of munitions.
Through this exercise, Laos’ Ministry of National Defence hopes to strengthen its military prowess, while the joint activity will serve to bolster  overall cooperation between Laos and Russia.
Since 2018, teams from the International Demining Centre of Russia’s defence forces have carried out UXO clearance in Borikhamxay and Xieng Khuang provinces, according to the Russian Embassy to Laos.
Hundreds of hectares of arable and other land have been restored to normal use, and more than 3,000 unexploded devices have been located and destroyed.
Russian demining teams have also run special classes for people in local communities to teach them what to do if they find any unexploded devices.
Unexploded munitions were also removed at Thong Haihin airport by Lao and Russian military personnel, with the work taking place from December 5, 2020, to March 18, 2021.
The operation saw the removal of unexploded ordnance from 3.47 hectares of land at the airport, when 1,003 devices were located and detonated.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update November 21, 2022)