PHNOM PENH, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Two Cambodian demining experts were killed as they were attempting to remove an anti-tank mine from a farmer's rice field on Thursday, the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) said in a statement.

The accident took place in Trapeang Prey village in the northwestern Oddar Meanchey province's Trapeang Prasat district during a mine clearance operation, the statement said, adding that the two male deminers were identified as Pov Nepin and Oeun Channara.

"The two experts were killed during an anti-tank mine explosion as they were working to clear landmines from a farmer's rice field in the above-mentioned area," the statement said.

Cambodia is one of countries worst affected by landmines. 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 United States had dropped 230,516 bombs on 113,716 sites in Cambodia.

A Cambodia's official report showed that from 1979 to 2024, landmine and explosive remnant of war (ERW) explosions had claimed 19,834 lives and either injured or amputated 45,252 others.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a public speech last November that although Cambodia achieved a full peace in 1998, the shadow of landmines continued to loom large and posed a dire threat to human lives and post-war recovery.

He said Cambodia has so far cleared over 3,000 square kilometers of landmines, destroying over 1 million anti-personnel mines and 3 million ERWs.

"We have declared 15 of 25 capital cities and provinces as mine free," Manet said. "Nevertheless, our journey is far from over. We still have over 1,600 square kilometers of contaminated lands and they are affecting lives of approximately 1 million people." Enditem

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