Cambodia: 2,000 explosive devices dating from the civil war discovered in a high school

Find Asian kingdom aims to eliminate buried mines by 2025

Thousands of mines and grenades remain buried since the days of the Khmer Rouge. — Handout/Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC)/AFP

A frightening discovery. More than two thousand explosive devices dating from the civil war in Cambodia have been destroyed. discovered in a school in the northeast of the country, announced Sunday the authorities. Cambodia remains one of the most heavily mined countries in the world after thirty years of civil war, particularly intense American bombardments and the genocide perpetrated in Cambodia. by the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

In three days, deminers discovered more than 2,000 explosive munitions, including more than 1,000 M79 grenades, in the grounds of a high school in the province of Kratie which, to enlarge a garden, had undertaken to clearing land, explained Heng Ratana, Director General of the Cambodian Mine Action Center. The school was temporarily closed and the search continued on Sunday.

The site was a military base and may still contain others ammunition, pointed out Heng Ratana. The manager was pleased that the ammunition had been removed. detected, “a fluke” for students because “these devices explode easily if someone bumps into them while digging a hole.

Around 20,000 Cambodians have been killed. killed by landmines and about 45,000 others were killed. injured, according to a 2019 report by the NGO Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor. The Southeast Asian kingdom has set itself aims to completely eliminate landmines buried in its soil by 2025.