Mine-sweeping completed along Yunnan's southern border

The latest round of mine-sweeping along the border between China's Yunnan and Vietnam has been completed, reports thepaper.cn.

A group of soldiers walk on a recently-cleared mine field in Yunnan Province. [Photo: PLA Daily]

Chinese PLA troops have strolled through a previously-mined area to try to reassure locals the area is now safe.

It took the field engineering brigade more than two months to clear an area covering some four million square meters.

More than 60-thousand mines have been cleared in a mine-sweeping operation in southern Yunnan. [Photo: PLA Daily]

It's the 3rd large-scale mine-sweeping operation conducted in the area.

The mines date back to a brief border war between China and Vietnam in the 1970's, and have since been a danger to locals in the region.

A PLA unit was formed in 2015 to clear the area.

Soldiers destroy mines after the mine-sweeping operation in southern Yunnan. [Photo: PLA Daily]

Minefields which cover nearly 26 million square meters have so far been cleared, accounting for 46 percent of the total mined area.

Authorities say the Yunnan section of the China-Vietnam border will be completely cleared of mines by the end of this year.