What are landmines?
Landmines are weapons buried in the ground that explode when a person or vehicle comes close or steps on them. They stay in the soil after a war ends and keep hurting residents decades later. They have been called "weapons that never choose their time" and "the poor man's weapon".
Thanks to years of clearance work, 14 provinces and the capital Phnom Penh (15 administrative units in total) out of the country's 25 provinces and capital municipality have declared themselves mine-free, but minefields remain, mainly in the northwest along the Thai border. Cambodia aims to complete clearance by 2030. (Target year: 2025) [Ref 0084]
The first landmines in Cambodia are said to have been laid in 1967, and over the roughly 30 years of civil war that followed, many different forces used mines. Under the K5 Plan, from around 1985, huge numbers of mines were laid along the Thai border. (Target year: 2023) [Ref 0101]
The Cambodian government estimates that about 4 million landmines were laid in the country. Bombing in the 1960s and 1970s also left large amounts of unexploded ordnance, mainly in the east. (Target year: 2019) [Ref 0104]
Cambodia has set the goal of zero landmines by 2030, and the international community, including Japan, continues to provide support. (Target year: 2026) [Ref 0056]
Typical landmines found in Cambodia
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PMN
One of the anti-personnel mines most often found in Cambodia. Many still remain in the long mine belt called the K5, built along the border with Thailand.
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PMN-2
An anti-personnel mine that remains in the K5 mine belt and elsewhere, together with the PMN. It is also recorded in the Cambodian government's official reports as an anti-personnel mine recovered from clearance sites.
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Type 72
A model recorded in the official reports the Cambodian government has submitted under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa Treaty) as an anti-personnel mine recovered inside the country. Two types are recorded: Type 72A and Type 72B.
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MD82B
A Vietnamese-made anti-personnel mine found at demining sites in Cambodia. It is officially recorded as one of the anti-personnel mines that CMAC keeps for research, training, and museum display.
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TM-46
The anti-tank mine most often found in Cambodia. Both Chinese-made and Soviet-made versions exist, and the Chinese-made TM-46 is said to be the most commonly found anti-tank mine in the country.
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TM-57
A model recorded, together with the TM-46 and TM-62, as one of the anti-tank mines most used in Cambodia.
Statistics
The same data as the chart, in a table
| Year | Value（incidents） | Sources & references |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 39 （Number of landmine/ERW incidents compiled by CMVIS (number of incidents, not number of people). From the year-on-year comparison in the CMVIS monthly report for December 2019.） | Ref 0025 |
| 2019 | 55 （Number of landmine/ERW incidents compiled by CMVIS. Breakdown: 26 landmine and 29 ERW incidents.） | Ref 0025 |
| 2020 | 47 （Number of landmine/ERW incidents compiled by CMVIS. Breakdown: 26 landmine and 21 ERW incidents.） | Ref 0024 |
| 2021 | 34 （Number of landmine/ERW incidents compiled by CMVIS. Breakdown: 19 landmine and 15 ERW incidents.） | Ref 0023 |
| 2022 | 29 （Number of landmine/ERW incidents compiled by CMVIS. Breakdown: 17 landmine and 12 ERW incidents.） | Ref 0022 |
| 2023 | 29 （Number of landmine/ERW incidents compiled by CMVIS. Breakdown: 17 landmine and 12 ERW incidents.） | Ref 0021 |
| 2024 | 30 （Number of landmine/ERW incidents compiled by CMVIS. Breakdown: 19 landmine and 11 ERW incidents.） | Ref 0020 |
| 2025 | 29 （Number of landmine/ERW incidents compiled by CMVIS (provisional figures). The report text lists 17 landmine and 12 ERW incidents (the text inconsistently gives 29, 30, and 28 incidents; the year-by-year comparison states 29).） | Ref 0019 |
The same data as the chart, in a table
| Year | Value（people） | Sources & references |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 12 （Compiled by CMVIS. Annual number of people killed in landmine/ERW incidents.） | Ref 0025 |
| 2020 | 17 （Compiled by CMVIS. Annual number of people killed in landmine/ERW incidents.） | Ref 0024 |
| 2021 | 11 （Compiled by CMVIS. Annual number of people killed in landmine/ERW incidents.） | Ref 0023 |
| 2022 | 10 （Compiled by CMVIS. Annual number of people killed in landmine/ERW incidents.） | Ref 0022 |
| 2023 | 4 （Compiled by CMVIS. Annual number of people killed in landmine/ERW incidents.） | Ref 0021 |
| 2024 | 12 （Compiled by CMVIS. Annual number of people killed in landmine/ERW incidents. The Monitor (based on CMAA's response) also reports the same 12 killed.） | Ref 0020 |
| 2025 | 11 （Compiled by CMVIS (provisional figures). Annual number of people killed in landmine/ERW incidents.） | Ref 0019 |
The same data as the chart, in a table
| Year | Value（people） | Sources & references |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 49 （Annual number of people injured, compiled by CMVIS. CMVIS lists injured and amputated separately, so this figure does not include the 16 amputations.） | Ref 0025 |
| 2020 | 36 （Annual number of people injured, compiled by CMVIS (does not include the 12 amputations).） | Ref 0024 |
| 2021 | 24 （Annual number of people injured, compiled by CMVIS (does not include the 9 amputations).） | Ref 0023 |
| 2022 | 24 （Annual number of people injured, compiled by CMVIS (does not include the 7 amputations).） | Ref 0022 |
| 2023 | 18 （Annual number of people injured, compiled by CMVIS (does not include the 10 amputations).） | Ref 0021 |
| 2024 | 29 （Annual number of people injured, compiled by CMVIS (does not include the 8 amputations). The Monitor counts 37 injured including amputations, so the figures differ (see stat-0033).） | Ref 0020 |
| 2024 | 37 （Compiled by the Landmine Monitor (based on CMAA's response to the Monitor questionnaire). This is the injured figure from "49 casualties, 12 killed and 37 injured," a value that includes amputations, corresponding to the 29 injured plus 8 amputations in the CMVIS monthly report. Because the compiling bodies use different definitions, it differs from the CMVIS monthly report figure (stat-0031).） | Ref 0017 |
| 2025 | 23 （Annual number of people injured, compiled by CMVIS (provisional figures; does not include the 5 amputations).） | Ref 0019 |
For unexploded ordnance (UXO), see What is UXO?. For clearance efforts, see Organizations and Technology.