(VOVworld) - The US confirmed Monday its commitment to destroying anti-personnel landmines in the State Department’s annual report titled “To Walk the Earth in Safety”. US Secretary of State John Kerry described the damage of anti-personnel landmines he witnessed during the Vietnam war and his experience with bomb and mine victims around the world. Kerry said landmines are a humanitarian concern which still destroy the lives of innocent men, women, and children decades after the soldiers laid down their weapons and leaders made peace:
He add:“Many of the men and women that I met that day had lost limbs and bore the scars of the explosions of mines that changed their lives forever.  No one should suffer that fate.  No human being should be afraid to go out and fetch firewood.  No traveler should fear to just wander down a hillside path.  No mother should worry that her child is going to run around and play, but might be blown up and never to return safely from school or from an afternoon of innocent frolicking.”

A landmine victim stands in the cafeteria of a school in Cambodia. (Photo: Reuters)

The US has contributed more than 2.3 billion USD to bomb and mine clearance and worked with partners to address their impacts. Since 1993, the US has provided Vietnam with 70 million USD to defuse unexploded ordnances and improve the lives of bomb and mine victims and the capability to destroy conventional weapons.