Cambodia: Battambang farmer unearths 250-pound US bomb, as UK assesses demining funding


HALO Trust Cambodia responded to an unusual Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) call-out over the weekend, when a farmer excavating his land in Battambang province’s Samlout district discovered a Mk81 bomb.

The district is one of the most landmine contaminated areas in Cambodia, however finding large air-dropped bombs in this part of the country is rare. HALO sub-unit commander Da No was quickly on the scene to inspect the bomb and assess its condition. At 110kg (250 lbs), a bomb of this size is extremely dangerous to locals and poses a threat to lives and homes within a 1-kilometre radius.

Read more…
Source: Phnom Penh Post News


Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter


Related:

  • Cambodia: Siem Reap, Puok district declared landmine-free

    December 6, 2023

    Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and First Vice President of the Mine Authority, on behalf of Dr. Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia and Chairman of the Mine Authority, on December 5, 2023, presided over the declaration of Puok District, Siem Reap Province, as a landmine-free district. The Senior Minister said that the Royal Government of Cambodia, ...

  • Cambodia: Kingdom and China pledge close military cooperation

    December 5, 2023

    Prime Minister Hun Manet on December 4 met with He Weidong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of China, to discuss continued military cooperation through agreements between their respective defence ministries on human resource training and demining operations. According to the premier’s social media statement, Weidong mentioned the historically strong relationship between Cambodia and China and ...

  • Cambodia: CMAA aim to warn 1.4M people of mine danger

    November 21, 2023

    Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) officials expect to reach 1.4 million people in their efforts to educate members of the public in high-risk areas about the dangers posed by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). Ly Thuch, CMAA first vice-president, said on November 19 that there is no upper limit on the number of ...

  • Cambodia: Mondulkiri becomes 14th province to be declared mine-free

    November 15, 2023

    Cambodia has taken another step closer to reaching the mine-free goal after the northeastern province of Mondulkiri was declared clear of landmines, becoming the 14th province to have gained that status. Mondulkiri is Cambodia’s largest and also the most sparsely populated province, containing an area of 14,288 square kilometres. During the Vietnam War in the late ...

  • US senators submit bill on funding landmine clearance in Indochina

    November 9, 2023

    Members of the US Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Tammy Baldwin of the Democratic Party from Wisconsin state, and Senator Jerry Moran of the Republican Party from Kansas state, have submitted a bipartisan bill that allocates funding for clearing landmines and other unexploded ordnances left over from the war in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In the foreseeable ...

  • Cambodia, Laos forge closer mine action ties

    November 5, 2023

    In a bilateral meeting between the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and Laos’ National Regulatory Authority for UXO and Mine Action (NRA), the Lao delegation expressed keen interest in studying the structure and functioning of the Kingdom’s successful mine action sector. This announcement followed a recent meeting between CMAC director-general Heng Ratana and NRA chief Chomyaeng ...

  • Cambodia: Kingdom’s noble ambition to be landmine free on the right path

    October 30, 2023

    The central province, famous for its palm sugar and wine, became the 13th province in the country to be cleared of landmines. Phnom Penh and 11 other provinces have been declared mine-free. These include Stung Treng, Kep, Prey Veng, Preah Sihanouk, Tboung Khmum, Kampong Cham, Svay Rieng, Kampong Chhnang, Kandal, Takeo and Kampot. Speaking yesterday at ...

  • Cambodia wants more Ottawa Convention signatories

    October 26, 2023

    Cambodia wants more countries to sign the Ottawa Convention so that the world can get rid of landmines and other UXOs faster to end the suffering of people residing in contaminated areas. The 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and Their Destruction is an international agreement ...

  • Cambodia: Vietnam War era U.S. aerial bomb safely removed in Phnom Penh’s suburb

    October 15, 2023

    A Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC)’s expert team safely removed a war-left U.S.-made MK-82 aerial bomb from an area in the northwestern suburb of Phnom Penh, a mine clearance chief said. CMAC’s Director-General Heng Ratana said the team discovered the unexploded bomb and safely transported it to the CMAC’s disposal center. “Buried underground for over 50 ...

  • Thai Cabinet approves $30,000 in aid for ARMAC

    September 28, 2023

    Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved $30,000 in operational costs for the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Centre (ARMAC) in Phnom Penh for the period 2024 to 2026. The three-year aid announcement was made ahead of Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s first visit to Cambodia. ARMAC, established in 2016, has received several donations from ASEAN member countries over ...

  • Cambodia: 14-nation ‘Pure Homeland’ mine drill concludes

    September 25, 2023

    Cambodia concluded the first international humanitarian mine action exercise themed “Pure Homeland 2023” conducted within the framework of the ASEAN Defence Ministers-Plus on Friday. The first-of-its-kind multinational exercise, that began on September 13 at the Multinational Peacekeeping Force Training School in Kampong Speu Province, has seen the participation of more than 500 troops from ASEAN member ...

  • Cambodia: CMAC starts clearing mines and explosive remnants on more than 500 hectares of forest land in Siem Reap

    September 19, 2023

    532 hectares of Phnom Preah Chbar community forest and people’s land in Srey Snom district, Siem Reap province, have been cleared by CMAC of mines and other explosive remnants of war. Srey Snom District Governor Hun Rithy said at the handover ceremony of the Chinese Peace Land Foundation to the CMAC on September 18, 2023, that ...

  • How ‘war on terror’ was fought and won in Southeast Asia – for now

    September 15, 2023

    In the early 2000s, the potential for terror attacks in Southeast Asia appeared dramatically different from today. Indonesia was rocked by the Christmas Eve church bombings on December 24, 2000, that killed 18 people. Just six days later, Metro Manila in the Philippines experienced similar bombings that killed 22 people. In 2002, a series of bombings ...

  • China helps train international experts in clearing land mines

    September 9, 2023

    Forty people from the armed forces in Cambodia and Laos completed a three-month training session on mine-clearing skills on Friday. The training, including the use of the latest mine-clearing technologies, will keep mine-clearing forces in their countries safe and enable them to conduct missions more efficiently, officials and teachers said. The training took place from June ...

  • Cambodia: India fund Koh Kong demining operations

    September 3, 2023

    The Indian embassy and the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on August 31, approving $425,000 in funding for a vital mine clearing project which encompasses four districts in Koh Kong province. The signing ceremony, dedicated to the ‘Mine Free Villages in Koh Kong Province,’ took place in ...

  • China: PLA Army to participate in “Pure Homeland-2023” multinational joint demining operation in Cambodia

    August 31, 2023

    According to the consensus reached by the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) Experts’ Working Group (EWG) on Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA), the Chinese PLA Army will send a task force to Cambodia for the multinational joint demining operation code-named “Pure Homeland-2023” from the end of August to late September, said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, ...

  • Global support for Cambodia’s landmine, UXO clearing efforts

    August 29, 2023

    In a recent gathering that highlighted the global commitment to eliminating landmines, all 164 signatory states of the Ottawa Convention expressed their support for Cambodia’s newly-appointed Prime Minister, Hun Manet. The meeting, held on August 28, emphasised the leader’s dedication to resolving ongoing landmine issues in the Southeast Asian nation. Juan Carlos Ruan, director of the ...

  • Cambodia: Educational efforts reduce landmine risks

    August 28, 2023

    Ly Thuch, first vice-president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), emphasised on August 25 the vital role of education in mitigating the risks posed by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). He highlighted the ongoing commitment of the CMAA, along with mine action operators and stakeholders, to raise public awareness ...

  • Cambodia: CMAC Special Forces inspected the clearance of UXO Kratie Province

    August 17, 2023

    Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) director general Heng Ratana, on August 16, leaders inspected the clearance of unexploded ordnance (UXO), which CMAC Special Forces is operating on the campus of Queen Kosomak High School, Trapeang Pring Village, Kratie commune, Kratie Province. Based on information from witnesses who used to buy and live near the school said ...

  • Cambodia: NPA contributes $2.1 million for demining

    August 12, 2023

    The Norwegian People Aid (NPA) has granted the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) $2.1 million for demining. The funds will be used to clear 1,600 hectares of landmine-contaminated areas in the northwestern provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear. The one-year “Project for Humanitarian Demining in Cambodia” was signed between NPA Country Director Rune ...

  • Cambodia: Demining dog handlers upskill

    August 11, 2023

    A total of 55 deminers from three different entities have completed two recent training courses designed to enhance their abilities to work with dogs in the course of their duties. The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) announced on August 10 that a total of 40 personnel – 19 from CMAC, 10 from Army Special Command ...

  • Cambodia receives more than $2 million from Germany for demining projects in three provinces

    August 4, 2023

    CMAC and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) will hold a signing ceremony on the “Cooperation Agreement on Humanitarian Mine Action Project in Cambodia” between Heng Ratana, Royal Government Delegate in charge of the Director General of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, and Rune Kristian Dale-Andresen, NPA Country Director for Cambodia. The signing ceremony will take place at ...