Gun control activists will join with the government on March 13 to burn 1,408 voluntarily surrendered weapons in Angkor Chum District, Siem Reap province.

The event is co-organized by the government and Japan Assistance Team for Small Arms Management (JSAC), a group that collects illegally possessed weapons and coordinates stockpiling systems for managing legal weapons.

"The purpose of the destruction ceremony is to make weapons physically unable to be used by incineration and to deliver the message that their society is moving toward peace without weapons," JSAC representatives wrote in a press release.

Weapons to be burned in the upcoming ceremony were collected through JSAC's Weapons Reduction and Development Project.

At the event, JSAC will also dedicate an 11-kilometer laterite road rebuilt with the organization's financial support.

JSAC has confiscated over 10,000 weapons in Cambodia since 2003.