The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) retrieved seven pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and three unexploded landmines from Takeo province yesterday and Monday, authorities said.
According to Tram Kak District Police Chief Duk Thiya, villagers found some of the UXO while expanding a road, while others were found in a rice field.
Among the items are three Chinese-made Type 69 anti-personnel landmines, three mortar rounds and four B40 rockets. After being alerted last week, police informed CMAC about the findings on Sunday, Thiya said.
CMAC Director Heng Ratana said the explosives were relatively small and common.
“We find it almost every day, everywhere,” Ratana said, adding that people who come across UXO should refrain from handling it. For the untrained, it “can cause incidents when it drops down or hits something”.
Cambodia recorded its first ever month with no recorded landmine or UXO casualties in July. According to the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, Takeo province did not see any UXO casualties in all of 2016 or the first six months of 2017.
In June, in the same district of Takeo, villagers unearthed a 350-kilogram aircraft bomb, left behind from the US bombardment of Cambodia’s countryside during the Vietnam War.
