 |
| Landmines and UXOs continue to litter much of the Cambodian countryside (Photo: Brendan Brady/IRIN) |
PAILIN, 21 October 2010 (IRIN) - Van Theang, 41, a former soldier in Cambodia's western Pailin Province, remembers what happened in 1991: "I was walking along and hit a trip-wire. I had been told to watch out for mines but I wasn't expecting any in that particular area. This just happened a lot in those years."
Under similar circumstances, while patrolling in Oddar Meanchey Province, along the 800km Thai border north of Pailin, soldier Sim Pheat stepped on a landmine that also destroyed his leg. But it happened just last month - a reminder that these remnants of war still exact a heavy toll.
A spike in landmine casualties in May - at 50, the highest monthly count since August 2007 - underlined what government and UN officials say is the reality that Cambodia will need longer to fulfil its pledged de-mining commitment.
Please click here to read more...
Under similar circumstances, while patrolling in Oddar Meanchey Province, along the 800km Thai border north of Pailin, soldier Sim Pheat stepped on a landmine that also destroyed his leg. But it happened just last month - a reminder that these remnants of war still exact a heavy toll.
A spike in landmine casualties in May - at 50, the highest monthly count since August 2007 - underlined what government and UN officials say is the reality that Cambodia will need longer to fulfil its pledged de-mining commitment.
Please click here to read more...
No comments:
Post a Comment