More than 500 pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) were discovered in Oddar Meanchey province by villagers foraging for wild potatoes on Friday, police said Sunday.
Banteay Ampil district police chief Hong Chamroeun said that the the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) was called in after villagers uncovered the UXO while foraging in a forest near Kork Khpos commune.
“Our CMAC found four places after our villagers found one place. There are in total 501 pieces of ammunition, and now CMAC has taken them to be destroyed,” he said.
The haul included 108 anti-tank mines, 41 DK-82 shells, 14 60-mm shells, 11 120-mm shells, 4 B-40 shells, 350 machine-gun bullets, as well as a 76-mm and an 82-mm shell, 37-mm and machine-gun bullets and a Chinese-made grenade, according to Mr. Chamroeun.
Having not been wrapped in any protective plastic before being buried by soldiers in the 1990s, each piece of ammunition was rusted and in a state of low-quality, Mr. Chamroeun added, but could still have posed danger to someone if disturbed under the soil with farming equipment.
“Our district is nearby the Cambodian-Thai border and the last battlefield during the factional fighting in 1998, and that ammunition was buried by soldiers,” he said, referring to the aftermath of the July 1997 clashes in Phnom Penh, in which ousted Funcinpec party forces fled to the northwest and created a short-lived resistance movement.
