Explosives experts from the Cambodian Mine Action Centre have unearthed nearly 1,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) after being called to a military base in Kampong Chhnang province.
CMAC discovered 894 items of explosive material after soldiers at Cholkiri district’s Tuol Chek base came across UXO buried at the base.
Further searches found 163 rocket-propelled grenades and 731 12.7mm machine gun rounds, Cholkiri District Police Chief Khem Yong told The Post on Thursday.
Sok Chenda, who led the CMAC demining team that unearthed the huge cache, said his unit also discovered an 80mm artillery shell.
“This unexploded ordnance might have been hidden since the civil war of the 1970s,” Yong said.
He said the CMAC operation at the base will continue. For now, the UXO have been impounded at a CMAC warehouse for destruction later.
“The search operation for unexploded ordnance at the Tuol Chek military base has not come to an end as yet. We believe there might be more ordnance buried at the site,” Chenda said.
