MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - A branch of the Russian Defense Ministry's International Mine Action Center has opened in Laos, Engineering Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Yury Stavitsky told the Defense Ministry's newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda in an interview.
"The second foreign branch of the Russian Armed Forces' International Mine Action Center has started to function in Laos. Nineteen specialists have been trained by now," Stavitsky said.
The Center opened its first foreign branch in Syria in 2017.
"Russian servicemen started training local sapper instructors since their day one in Laos. The future specialists are equipped with Russian-made systems of mine detection and individual protection means, and they are learning to effectively use the modern gear," Stavitsky said.
A crew of Russian sappers has been clearing Laos of munitions dropped by U.S. planes between 1964 and 1973 since October 2018. The mine action is in progress in the Bolikhamsai province, 350 kilometers from Vientiane.
"The Russian sappers have detected plenty of munitions on 52 hectares of land, which are cleared by now. They have mostly found U.S. cluster munitions BLU-3/B, BLU-24/B and BLU-61/B meant to be used against troops, combat hardware, and gear," Stavitsky said.
Russia and Laos have lately boosted their military-technical cooperation.
An informed source told Interfax earlier that Russia had supplied Laos with a batch of modernized T-72B1 tanks.