The CIA’s attempt to corner North Vietnam during The Vietnam War left Laos pockmarked with tens of millions of bombs which remain to this day.

On both sides of the Ho Chi Minh trails, behind every rocky outcrop and sunken waterhole, invisible lines and tangents mark the endless minefields.

To cross a certain line might invite a new destiny – even death.

Yet this is how the people of this tiny, Southeast Asian country live today.

As the world’s eyes were fixed on the Vietnam War, the CIA secretly bombed neighboring Laos. The bombing was an attempt to disrupt North Vietnamese supply routes on the Ho Chi Minh trails, and despite lasting from 1963-1972, these events have left a significant impact on the country. Over 250 million bombs were unleashed, making it the most heavily bombed country on Earth.

More ordnance was dropped on Laos than through the entire Second World War. And all this though Laos and the US were not at war.

Today, the remaining bombs claim lives, mostly children. Many locals fear plowing the fields in a country where 4/5 of the population are farmers, and instead attempt to gather bombs to sell as scrap metal to buy food – often killing themselves in the process.

Every year, the rainy monsoon season further transports the bombs to new areas, contaminating more farmland, and hindering socioeconomic development. UXO Laos, the national de-mining organization, has cleared less than 1% of the bombed areas. The process is difficult and expensive, and Laos remains poor. According to UXO Laos, it will be another 150 years before Laos is cleared.