CMAC clears 4,000 hectares in Q1
A CMAC expert clearing a landmine in Preah Vihear province on March 4. CMAC
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Synopsis: Technical teams remove explosives from vast lands, educate 200,000 people, and strengthen global cooperation on demining efforts in this year’s first period.
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) cleared more than 4,000 hectares of land and provided mine-safety training to 200,000 people during the first quarter of 2026, officials reported on April 9.
At a quarterly review in Siem Reap, CMAC Director General Heng Ratana highlighted significant progress in land clearance and emergency response, even as contamination remains widespread across rural communities.
From January to March, operations cleared land affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). Technical teams surveyed 332 out of 348 targeted villages, mapping more than 5,300 hazardous areas covering roughly 3,600 square kilometres.
Teams located and destroyed more than 11,800 landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) items while responding to nearly 2,000 emergency disposal calls from residents.
“Through these achievements, more than 356,000 families have benefited,” Ratana said. “This enables them to safely use land for agriculture, housing, and public infrastructure such as pagodas, health centres, and schools.”
He said that CMAC continues to strengthen international cooperation through global exchanges of demining expertise.
The Ministry of National Defence said that past border conflicts involved heavy weaponry used near civilian areas, causing destruction to schools and ancient temples. While active fighting has ceased, large quantities of UXO remain, including cluster munitions and aerial bombs. Around 340 villages and 91,400 families remain affected by these remnants.
Ratana said some munitions must be destroyed on-site because they are armed and cannot be moved safely under technical protocols.
CMAC is accelerating clearance in high-priority residential areas. Nearly 1,000 personnel are deployed to remove hazards from homes, school zones and pagodas.
The progress represents a continuation of Cambodia’s long-term demining success. From 1992 through last year, the country cleared around 3,500 square kilometres of contaminated land and destroyed more than 4.7 million mines and ERW.
These efforts have successfully reduced annual casualties from a peak of 4,320 in 1996 to just 39 in 2025.
The 22nd Meeting of States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, held in Geneva in December last year, approved Cambodia’s request for a third extension to complete the clearance and destruction of anti-personnel mines, setting a new deadline of December 31, 2030.
Cambodia remains one of the world’s most heavily mine-contaminated countries, with an estimated four to six million landmines and unexploded ordnance left from decades of conflict that officially ended in 1998. Despite three decades of clearance operations, more than 700 square kilometres of land remain affected.
This marks Cambodia’s third extension request under the Mine Ban Convention, following earlier deadlines covering 2010–2019 and 2020–2025. The newly approved extension provides an additional five years to fulfil its clearance obligations.
So far, 15 provinces have been declared mine-free: Stung Treng, Kep, Prey Veng, Phnom Penh, Preah Sihanouk, Kandal, Svay Rieng, Takeo, Kampot, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Cham, Tboung Khmum, Kampong Speu, Mondulkiri, and Kratie.
