Cambodia UXO casualties more than doubles in Jan.-March

ANKARA

The number of victims from unexploded ordnance, or UXO, significantly increased in the first three months of 2019 from a year earlier, a Cambodian government agency said Tuesday.

At least 30 people have been killed or maimed by UXO between January 1 and March 16, said the Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA).

There were 17 victims in the same period of 2018, according to CMAA.

Cambodia is one of the countries most contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants of war in the world, a legacy of the U.S. bombing during the two-decade Vietnam War.

Between 1979 and November last year, 64,771 people fell victim to landmines and UXO, with 20,000 killed and more than 40,000 disabled, according to CMAA.