Cambodia Self Help Demining (CSHD) destroyed 181 pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) on April 6 after finding them on April 4 in Po Chas village of Banteay Ampil district’s Beng commune in Oddar Meanchey province.
The organisation said they had collected 3,352 pieces of mixed ammunition and 116.5kg of pistol bullets from Oddar Meanchey province in 2020.
Chhun Bora, Explosive Ordinance Disposal Supervisor and Training Manager at CSHD, said on April 6 that his organisation had safely detonated 181 mixed pieces of ammunition as well as 110kg of pistol bullets.
He added that they had detonated all of the ammunition in Siem Reap province’s Chi Kraeng commune where they have a large open field and it is easy to do the work safely.
“We destroyed the ammunition ourselves directly, but we requested approval for the location from the district authorities in advance. We can’t destroy the ammunition where we find it because it’s often too close to people’s houses,” he said.
According to Bora, on April 4 a resident of Po Chas village in Banteay Ampil district’s Beng commune found noticed he had dug up some buried bullets while he was ploughing. He immediately stopped his work and reported it to the Beng commune police station and the district police chief requested CSHD’s assistance.
Bora said his demining officers searched the area with metal detectors and collected 82mm shells, anti-personnel mines, B40 shells and rockets for a total of 181 items along with 110kg of pistol bullets.
Bora also said that in Oddar Meanchey province in 2020 his organisation had found a variety of UXO including anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines, artificial mines, UCO bombs and over 3,000 cluster munitions.
In the first three months of 2021, his organisation has found 369 anti-personnel mines, 2 anti-tank mines, 59 warheads, 8kg of pistol bullets 767 other miscellaneous types of UXO.
Banteay Ampil district police chief Thong Kosal said on Apr 6 that this was the first time people had found UXO in that particular area while ploughing their land and that it’s a lesson to everyone to remain cautious because there are still dangerous areas that are unknown to anyone.
