War-left U.S. aerial bomb safely removed in Cambodia's coastal province: official

PHNOM PENH, April 9 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC)'s expert team has safely removed a war-left U.S.-made MK-82 aerial bomb from a sea area in Preah Sihanouk province's Prey Nob district, a mine clearance chief said on Tuesday.

CMAC Director-General Heng Ratana said the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) expert team discovered the unexploded bomb and safely transported it to the CMAC's disposal center on Monday.

"This bomb has lasted in the ocean area for more than 50 years, but it's still in good shape and quality," he said in a Facebook post.

Ratana said the discovered MK-82 aerial bomb weighed around 230 kg.

According to the official, in early March, the EOD expert team had also unearthed and safely removed three MK-82 aerial bombs in Kampong Speu and Kandal provinces.

Cambodia is one of the countries that suffered most from mines and unexploded ordnances as the result of three decades of war and internal conflicts from the mid-1960s until 1998. An estimated 4 to 6 million land mines and other munitions left over from the conflicts.

According to Yale University, between 1965 and 1973, the United States dropped some 230,516 bombs on 113,716 sites in Cambodia.

From 1979 to 2023, landmine and remnants of war (ERW) explosions had claimed 19,822 lives and either injured or amputated 45,215 others in Cambodia, according to an official report.

The Southeast Asian country is committed to getting rid of all types of landmines and ERWs by 2025.