Nearly three decades after the Vietnam War ended, land mines kill and maim farmers and other Vietnamese almost weekly, and de-mining efforts are focusing on the wrong areas, according to the first comprehensive postwar study, released Wednesday. The study, funded by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, is the first look at the ongoing casualties after the war. No national studies on land mines and unexploded ordnance have ever been done. The study, conducted over a three-week period in August 2002, takes an in-depth look at one district in central Quang Tri province, the site of the former demilitarized zone. Especially hard-hit was Trieu Phong, a rural, rice-farming community where many villagers are missing one or more limbs. Some 1,270 people have been killed or injured in the district since 1975. Nearly half the victims were aged 16 to 30, and 80 percent were men, the study found. Full Story
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