Latest news with #HengRatana
The Star
13-05-2025
- General
- The Star
Cambodian Mine Action Centre destroys 120 cluster bomblets in Ratanakiri controlled explosion
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) destroyed more than 100 cluster munitions in Ratanakiri province on May 12. - Photo: CMAC PHNOM PENH: A total of 120 cluster munitions, remnants from previous wars in the Kingdom, were destroyed in a controlled explosion by experts from the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) in Ratanakiri province's O'Chum district on Monday (May 12). The 'bomblets' were destroyed in a cashew plantation in Kamen Thom village, in Samakki commune. According to CMAC, the cluster munitions were from a CBU-25/A air-dropped bomb, typically containing 132 bomblets. During Monday's operation, 120 of them were determined to remain capable of exploding. CMAC reported that a farmer discovered the munitions buried approximately one metre deep on his farm, and informed the centre immediately. 'Due to the unsafe condition of the bomblets, which could not be safely defused or transported, the only option was to destroy them on-site. This on-site destruction caused some damage to a number of cashew trees, but the plantation owner can now enjoy peace and safety, free from the ongoing threat of these munitions,' said CMAC, in a social media post. The 120 cluster munitions were likely all from a single CBU-25/A bomb, dropped from a US aircraft. - Photo: CMAC The demining unit expressed gratitude to the owner of the cashew plantation for their full cooperation. Between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s, Cambodia was subjected to heavy bombing, with more tonnage dropped by the US than by the allies' combined efforts in World War Two. According to CMAC director-general Heng Ratana, it is estimated that during this period, some three million tonnes of bombs, including approximately 30 million cluster munitions, were dropped on more than 10,000 targets across the Kingdom. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
The Star
08-05-2025
- General
- The Star
Cambodia discovers, safely removes another war-left US aerial bomb MK-82: official
PHNOM PENH: A Cambodia's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) expert team has found and safely removed another war-left US-made MK-82 aerial bomb in southern Kandal province, a mine clearance chief said late on Wednesday (May 7). Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), said the bomb, weighing about 230 kg, had been discovered in a soil pit in Angk Snuol district. "Buried for about half a century (50 years), it's still new," he wrote on social media, with photographs showing experts defusing the bomb. Ratana said experts safely removed and transported it to the CMAC's disposal center for further action on Wednesday. According to the official, since the start of the year, the EOD expert team had unearthed and safely removed at least eight MK-82 aerial bombs in different provinces, including Kampong Cham, Kandal, Kampong Speu, and Kampong Thom. Cambodia is one of the countries worst affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs). An estimated 4 million to 6 million landmines and other munitions had been left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998. According to the Yale University, from October 1965 to August 1973, the United States had dropped over 2.75 million tons of ordnance in 230,516 sorties on 113,716 sites in Cambodia. A Cambodia's official report showed that from 1979 to 2024, landmine and ERW explosions had claimed 19,834 lives and maimed 45,252 others in the Southeast Asian country. - Xinhua
Khaleej Times
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Two Cambodian toddlers killed in old grenade blast
Two Cambodian toddlers died when a rocket-propelled grenade believed buried since the country's civil war blew up near their homes, an official said on Sunday. The explosion happened on Saturday in a remote village in northwestern Siem Reap province that was once a battle site for Cambodian government soldiers and Khmer Rouge fighters in the 1980s and 1990s. The children who died were cousins — a boy and a girl who were both two years old. "According to an investigation report, the two toddlers were playing on the ground, digging the soil and may have hit (the grenade) with an object that caused the explosion," Heng Ratana, director general of the government's Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), told AFP. He said one child was killed instantly while another died in hospital. "The war has completely ended and there has been peace for more than 25 years, but the blood of Cambodian people continues to flow because of landmines and the remnants of war," Heng Ratana added. The accident comes after Cambodia was forced to partially suspend demining operations for several weeks when Washington suddenly halted funding following President Donald Trump's order to freeze foreign aid for 90 days. But on Friday, Cambodian officials said deminers were to resume clearing unexploded munitions, after the United States granted a waiver to keep funding the work in the country. The Southeast Asian nation remains littered with discarded ammunition and arms from decades of war starting in the 1960s. After more than 30 years of civil war ended in 1998, Cambodia was left as one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. Deaths from mines and unexploded ordnance are still common, with around 20,000 fatalities since 1979, and twice that number wounded. Last month, two Cambodian deminers were killed while trying to remove a decades-old anti-tank mine from a rice field and a villager died in a landmine blast on his farm. More than 1,600 sqkm of contaminated land still needs to be cleared which leaves approximately a million Cambodians affected by war remnants. Cambodia had aimed to be mine-free by 2025, but the government pushed the deadline back by five years because of funding challenges and new landmine fields found along the Thai border.
CNN
23-02-2025
- CNN
Decades-old grenade kills two toddlers in rural Cambodia
A rocket-propelled grenade believed to be more than 25 years old killed two cousins, a girl and a boy both 2 years old, when it blew up Saturday near their homes in rural northwestern Cambodia, officials said. The accident happened in Siem Reap province's Svay Leu district, where there had been heavy fighting in the 1980s and 1990s between Cambodian government soldiers and rebel guerrillas from the communist Khmer Rouge. The group had been ousted from power in 1979. Muo Lisa and her male cousin, Thum Yen, lived in neighboring homes in the remote village of Kranhuong. Their parents were doing farm work when the two toddlers apparently came across the unexploded ordnance and it detonated. Experts from the Cambodian Mine Action Center determined afterwards from fragments that it was a rocket-propelled grenade. Old unexploded munitions are especially dangerous because their explosive contents become volatile as they deteriorate. 'Their parents went to settle on land that was a former battlefield, and they were not aware that there were any land mines or unexploded ordnance buried near their homes,' CMAC Director-General Heng Ratana said. 'It's a pity because they were too young and they should not have died like this.' Some 4 million-6 million land mines and other unexploded munitions are estimated to have littered Cambodia's countryside during decades of conflict that began in 1970 and ended in 1998. Since the end of the fighting in Cambodia, nearly 20,000 people have been killed and about 45,000 injured by leftover war explosives. The number of casualties has declined over time; last year there were 49 deaths. 'The war is completely over and there is fully peace for more than 25 years, but the blood of the Khmer (Cambodian) people continues to flow because of the remnants of land mines and ammunition,' Heng Ratana said on his Facebook page. Cambodian deminers are among the world's most experienced, and several thousand have been sent in the past decade under U.N. auspices to work in Africa and the Middle East. Cambodia's demining efforts drew attention earlier this month, when U.S. financial assistance for it in eight provinces was suspended due to President Donald Trump's 90-day freeze on foreign assistance. Heng Ratana said Thursday he had been informed that Washington had issued a waiver allowing the aid — $6.36 million covering March 2022 to November 2025 — to resume flowing.
CNN
23-02-2025
- CNN
Decades-old grenade kills two toddlers in rural Cambodia
A rocket-propelled grenade believed to be more than 25 years old killed two cousins, a girl and a boy both 2 years old, when it blew up Saturday near their homes in rural northwestern Cambodia, officials said. The accident happened in Siem Reap province's Svay Leu district, where there had been heavy fighting in the 1980s and 1990s between Cambodian government soldiers and rebel guerrillas from the communist Khmer Rouge. The group had been ousted from power in 1979. Muo Lisa and her male cousin, Thum Yen, lived in neighboring homes in the remote village of Kranhuong. Their parents were doing farm work when the two toddlers apparently came across the unexploded ordnance and it detonated. Experts from the Cambodian Mine Action Center determined afterwards from fragments that it was a rocket-propelled grenade. Old unexploded munitions are especially dangerous because their explosive contents become volatile as they deteriorate. 'Their parents went to settle on land that was a former battlefield, and they were not aware that there were any land mines or unexploded ordnance buried near their homes,' CMAC Director-General Heng Ratana said. 'It's a pity because they were too young and they should not have died like this.' Some 4 million-6 million land mines and other unexploded munitions are estimated to have littered Cambodia's countryside during decades of conflict that began in 1970 and ended in 1998. Since the end of the fighting in Cambodia, nearly 20,000 people have been killed and about 45,000 injured by leftover war explosives. The number of casualties has declined over time; last year there were 49 deaths. 'The war is completely over and there is fully peace for more than 25 years, but the blood of the Khmer (Cambodian) people continues to flow because of the remnants of land mines and ammunition,' Heng Ratana said on his Facebook page. Cambodian deminers are among the world's most experienced, and several thousand have been sent in the past decade under U.N. auspices to work in Africa and the Middle East. Cambodia's demining efforts drew attention earlier this month, when U.S. financial assistance for it in eight provinces was suspended due to President Donald Trump's 90-day freeze on foreign assistance. Heng Ratana said Thursday he had been informed that Washington had issued a waiver allowing the aid — $6.36 million covering March 2022 to November 2025 — to resume flowing.
