Buried Menace
Story and photograph by Geoff Turner
Mrs Pa sits outside her home on the outskirts of Nong Het town in the east of Xieng Khouang province. She cradles her sleeping two year old son in her arms, while her four year old daughter hides behind her mother, peeking out every now and then to see what's going on.
Behind her house, where the back garden falls away steeply into the valley below, a team of MAG technicians by Dalivan, the programme's only female team leader, and Cliff Allen, the technical field manager, busy themselves setting up the demolition of a BLU, or cluster bomblet - known to the locals as a "bombie". BLUs are notoriously unstable - removing the munition could cause it to explode - so the controlled demolition has to be done in situ.
"I found the items a few days ago while I was digging in the garden. It was half buried near to where my children like to play," says Mrs Pa. "I marked the bombie and warned my children not to go into the back garden until it was safe. I then contacted MAG." This is the sixth item she has found in her garden. A MAG roving team have been called out previously to destroy the other remnants of conflict, which included mortars and rockets.
Due to the close proximity to Mrs Pa's house, sandbags surround the BLU in order to vent the explosion away from her home and across the uninhabited valley below. With the detonation prepared, the MAG technicians become sentries, using megaphones to warn people about the impending explosion and ensuring that nobody enters the potentially dangerous area. Finally MAG vehicles block both ends of the road to stpo any traffic and the controlled detonation takes place.
There's a smile on Mrs Pa's face as the echo from the explosion bounces then fades across the valley. Her son has slept through the detonation and barely stirred, while her daughter simply shrugs and runs over to play with the puppy lying oblivious with its legs in the air next to the fence - they're all far too used to this kind of situation. Mrs Pa thanks the team as they pack up and prepare to leave. "My family worry far less about UXO now," she says. "We recognise dangerous items now and know that MAG are close by and will come quickly to destroy anything we find."
Back to top
