Cambodia reports 41 landmine, ERW casualties in 2022, down 7%

Phnom Penh, Dec 29 Cambodia registered 41 landmine and explosive remnant of war (ERW) casualties in 2022, a decrease of 7 per cent from 44 in 2021, according to a report released on Thursday.

Ten people were killed, 24 injured, and seven amputated in 2022, said the report of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA).

From 1979 to December 2022, landmine and ERW explosions had claimed 19,818 lives and either injured or amputated 45,187 others, Xinhua news agency quoted the CMAA as saying.

Cambodia is one of the countries worst-affected by landmines and 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 Yale University, between 1965 and 1973, the US dropped some 230,516 bombs on 113,716 sites in Cambodia.

CMAA's first vice president Ly Thuch said the Southeast Asian country currently needs to clear the remaining 716 square km of land contaminated by mines and ERWs.

"Throughout Cambodia, around 1 million people still live in fear and work in areas contaminated by mines and ERWs," he said.

Thuch said Cambodia is committed to getting rid of landmines and ERWs from the country by 2025.