Cambodia launched on Wednesday a decade-long national strategy to rid the country of landmines, cluster bombs, and other explosive remnants of war, setting ambitious targets to complete one of the world's longest-running humanitarian clearance operations.

The 2026–2035 National Mine Action Policy, unveiled in the capital, aims to clear all confirmed minefields by 2030 and all remaining cluster munitions and other unexploded ordnance by 2035, according to government officials.

Between 1992 and 2025, humanitarian demining teams cleared over 3,541 square kilometers of affected land, destroying more than 1.2 million anti-personnel mines, 26,700 anti-tank mines, and 3.24 million pieces of unexploded ordnance. Yet nearly 1,749 square kilometers remain hazardous.

The toll has been staggering. From 1979 to June 2026, landmine and explosive-related incidents have claimed 19,852 lives and injured or maimed 45,301 others, according to the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority.

Cambodia continues to rank among the world's worst-affected countries by landmine contamination.

(Source: CCTV News)