President Barack Obama pledged $90 million (£67 million) on Tuesday to help Laos recover millions of unexploded bombs secretly dropped there by US planes during the Vietnam War, saying the clean-up was a "moral obligation".

Mr Obama is in Laos for a summit of Southeast Asian leaders, making him the first sitting US president to visit the Communist country, which is sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam.

He said it was time to at last acknowledge the toll American bombing had taken on the people of Laos.

“Villages and entire valleys were obliterated. Countless civilians were killed. That conflict was another reminder that, whatever the cause, whatever our intentions, war inflicts a wrenching toll, especially on innocent men, women and children,” he said.