Cambodia sees 55 pct rise in landmine casualties in 8 months

[geovalin]

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Saturday reported 129 landmine casualties in the first eight months of 2014, representing a 55 percent increase from 83 casualties over the same period last year.

However, the number of the dead declined to 17 during the January-August period this year, down from 19 deaths over the same period last year, said the report of the Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority.

The number of the injured people rose to 112 during the period this year, up from 64 over the same period last year, it said.

"About 69 percent of the victims were men, 17 percent were boys, 9 percent were women and 5 percent were girls," the report said.

Cambodia is one of the countries in the world suffering the worst from mines. An estimated 4-6 million landmines and other munitions have left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.

The Southeast Asian nation seeks about 50 million U.S. dollars a year until 2020 to eliminate all types of anti-personnel mines, according to Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center.

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