PHNOM PENH, Sept 7 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodia registered 40 landmine and explosive remnant of war (ERW) casualties, in the first eight months of this year, up 21 percent compared with 33 over the same period last year, according to a report released yesterday.
During the Jan-Aug period this year, 10 people were killed, 23 injured, and seven amputated, said the report of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authorities (CMAA).
From 1979 to Aug, this year, landmine and ERW explosions had claimed 19,818 lives, and either injured or amputated 45,186 others, the CMAA said.
Cambodia is one of the countries worst affected by mines and ERWs. An estimated four million to six million landmines and other munitions have been left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.
According to Yale University, between 1965 and 1973, the United States dropped some 230,516 bombs on 113,716 sites in Cambodia.
CMAA’s first vice president, Ly Thuch, said that, from 1992 to date, the country had cleared 2,410 square-km of landmine or ERW contaminated land, destroying over 1.1 million anti-personal mines, more than 26,000 anti-tank mines and almost three million ERWs.
However, the country still needs to clear the remaining 716 square-km of land contaminated by mines and ERWs, he said.
“Throughout Cambodia, around one million people still live in fear and work in areas contaminated by mines and ERWs,” Thuch said.
Cambodia is committed to getting rid of landmines and ERWs by 2025, he said, adding that, to achieve this mine-free goal, Cambodian Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, launched on July 4, the “Samdech Techo Project for Mine Action” fundraising drive, which has so far raised more than 20 million U.S. dollars.– NNN-AKP
