Cambodia clears over 72,000 mines in 3 years

ANKARA

Cambodia has extracted over 72,000 mines in three years since 2018, clearing 66% of its targeted 641 kilometers (398 miles), Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) said.

“A total of 72,340 mines and explosives were extracted from 2018 to 2020 under National Mine Action Strategy’s Three-Year Implementation Plan,” said a statement, issued after the government body held its Technical Working Group on Mine Action’s (TWG-MA) virtual meeting on Wednesday.

The kingdom was able to clear 421 kilometers (261 miles) from mines in the three-year period.

However, the Southeast Asian nation recorded 32 casualties in the first seven months of this year alone.

Cambodia is one of the countries most contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants of any war in the world – a legacy of the US bombing during the two-decade Vietnam War.

Between 1979 and November 2018, 64,771 people fell victim to landmines and unexploded ordnance, with 20,000 killed and more than 40,000 disabled, according to the CMAA.

“The mines and explosives discovered include 49,256 antipersonnel mines, 956 anti-tank mines, and 221,372 items of explosive remnants of war – all of them were destroyed,” it added.

Cambodia envisages achieving a mine-free country by 2025.