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Alsharq Tribune-AFP
Cambodia has found and safely removed another war-left U.S.-made M117 aerial bomb in southern Takeo province, a mine clearance chief said late on Tuesday.
Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC)'s Director General Heng Ratana said the massive bomb was spotted buried four meters deep in an area in Tram Kak district.
"This M117 bomb, with the weight of approximately 372 kilograms, is over 2 meters long and has a diameter of over 40 centimeters," he wrote on social media, with photographs showing experts defusing the bomb.
"This M117 bomb could have been dropped from a B-52 bomber in 1973," he added.
The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) experts safely neutralized and transported the bomb to the CMAC's disposal center for further action on Monday.
According to Ratana, a total of 11 M117 bombs have been discovered in the above-mentioned location so far.
Cambodia is one of the countries worst affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs). 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, from October 1965 to August 1973, the United States had dropped over 2.75 million tons of ordnance in 230,516 sorties on 113,716 sites in Cambodia.
A Cambodia's official report showed that from 1979 to April 2025, landmine and ERW explosions had claimed 19,840 lives and maimed 45,264 others.
