CMAC destroyed almost 40,000 landmines and UXOs last year

The Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) destroyed almost 40,000 landmines and unexploded ordnance last year as part of the Kingdom’s goal to become mine-free by 2030. CMAC director-general Heng Ratana said Saturday this came about after the clearance of more than 9,200 hectares of minefields which was about 115 percent of its target for the year.

“Throughout last year, we embarked on our mission to find and destroy as many landmines and exploded ordnance as possible. We succeeded by destroying 39,249 of them,” he added. CMAC has estimated that there may be as many as four to six million mines and other unexploded ordnance in Cambodia.

Ratana said it was not easy to coordinate the demining operations especially with the COVID-19 pandemic where people are afraid to come out for fear of contracting the deadly virus. “Last year was a challenging and difficult year for us to carry out our activities. However, despite the hurdles that came our way, we still managed to achieve remarkable success,” he said.

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