More Than 30,000 Hectares Polluted by Unexploded Ordnance in Cambodia’s Border Province
More Than 30,000 Hectares Polluted by Unexploded Ordnance in Cambodia’s Border Province
BANTEAY MEANCHEY, Feb. 5, 2026 — Cambodian demining officials said on Thursday that more than 35,000 hectares of land in northwestern Banteay Meanchey province have been contaminated by unexploded ordnance, including cluster munitions, following recent fighting along the Cambodia–Thailand border.
Brigadier General Net Ratha, head of Demining Unit One of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), told reporters that surveys identified 35,161 hectares affected by shelling and cluster bombs, impacting homes, residential land and farmland.
Speaking during a field briefing on Feb. 4 near an unexploded cluster munition site in Ou Chrov district, Net Ratha said CMAC teams have so far documented around 2,500 bomb craters and recovered 133 items of unexploded ordnance, including 139 buried munitions that remain dangerous.
He said that between Dec. 28, 2025 and Feb. 4, 2026, CMAC detected a large number of unexploded cluster bomblets fired into the province, particularly from M46 and M85 cluster munitions, scattered across villages, public areas and agricultural land.
“The impact of these remnants of war is severe,” Net Ratha said, noting that cluster bomblets have blast and fragmentation effects significantly stronger than anti-personnel landmines, while many unexploded devices may still remain undiscovered.
CMAC teams have been using heavy machinery to locate and remove the munitions, he said, adding that while some bomblets could be safely neutralised, others detonated during clearance operations due to their instability.
The demining agency urged residents not to touch any suspicious objects and to immediately report them to local authorities. It also warned displaced families who have begun returning home to exercise extreme caution due to the widespread presence of unexploded ordnance.
Cambodia remains one of the world’s most heavily contaminated countries by landmines and unexploded weapons following decades of conflict.
