1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

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Re: 1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

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It says they were restoring sediment...
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Re: 1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

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Last time I took the ferry from Chbar Ampov to Lvea Aem there would have been 5 or more pumping boats, taking sand and sediment from the Mekong river bed.
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Re: 1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

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15:24, 13-May-2022
War-left U.S. aerial bombs in Southeast Asia still a threat to locals
CGTN
Half a century on, war-left U.S. aerial bombs in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are still excavated, posing threats to local people's daily lives.

Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) found an unexploded U.S.-made AN-M34 aerial bomb, weighing nearly one tonne and containing more than 500 kilograms of high risk explosives, from the river in Tonle Boun Muk near the Sokha Hotel in Phnom Penh and in front of the Royal Palace on May 5, according to the Khmer Times.

"Cambodia is still suffering from the United States' unexploded ordnance and landmines, which are the legacy of the U.S.-Vietnam war 50 years ago," Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, told Xinhua.

In April alone, CMAC had found at least five unexploded U.S. Mark 82 (Mk 82) aerial bombs, weighing about 500 pounds each, in Kandal, Svay Rieng, Takeo, and Prey Veng provinces.

"Every day, somewhere in Cambodia, poor people are becoming the victims of these unexploded ordnances (UXOs) and landmines," said Matthews.

From 1979 to 2021, 19,808 people were killed and 45,156 were either injured or had limbs amputated due to landmines and UXOs, Xinhua reported, citing a report from the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority.

Besides massive landmines and UXOs left in Cambodia, the country also suffered the tragedy of U.S. aerial bombings in 1960s and 1970s.

Acknowledging the United States bombing of the Cambodian countryside continued and increased from 1970 to August 1973, a research paper titled "The America Bombardment of Kampuchea, 1969-1973" pointed out that the total bombing was 540,000 tonnes.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-05-13/W ... index.html
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Re: 1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

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50 years on, U.S. bombings still terrorize Cambodia

Yan Sam En is a farmer in northeast Cambodia’s Chetr Borei district. One day, almost 20 years ago, the father of five was working in the forest close to his home when he found four cluster bombs, unexploded remnants of the U.S. carpet bombing that devastated the area in the 1960s.
“I didn’t want my children to play with the bombs, so I collected them, and as I did, one exploded. It blew off both my arms, and left me totally blind,” Sam En told Xinhua on Friday. “I was 43 years old. I’m almost 61 now, but time has not healed me.”

Sam En says he has been nothing but a burden to his family since the blast. He cannot do anything. He just sits at home all day. “The U.S. deprived me of everything. In a few seconds, I went from breadwinner to useless person.”

The cluster bombs that claimed Sam En’s eyes and arms are just a reminder of countless bombs that the U.S. dropped on Cambodia during the U.S.-Vietnam War, claiming countless other arms, legs and eyes, and thousands of lives. Between 1965 and 1973, the U.S. dropped 230,516 bombs in Cambodia.
In April alone, at least five U.S. Mk 82 bombs, weighing about 500 pounds each, were found across the country. On May 5, a Cambodian bomb disposal team safely removed a U.S. bomb, weighing 2,000 pounds, from the Chaktomuk river opposite the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

“At that time, I saw U.S. warplanes flying around. They dropped bombs to cut off roads and bridges,” Sam En said. “We lived in fear every day and ran to hide in trenches when we heard the warplanes.”

Sam En said the U.S. has not provided any support to victims like him of its leftover bombs.

‘VICIOUS, UNDECLARED WAR’
Cambodian Prime Minister HE wrote in his book “10 Years of Cambodia’s Journey, 1979-1989” that the bombings killed “tens of thousands of civilians” in a “vicious, undeclared war”

Ly Thuch, first vice president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), said Cambodia is still suffering from the huge legacy of the U.S.-Vietnam war and Cambodia’s own internal conflicts.

“There are a lot of bombs scattered on the ground, under the ground and in the water. We have not even conducted a large-scale search for underwater bombs, yet,” he told Xinhua.

“Unexploded ordnance is a constant danger. Villages, farmland and rice fields still contain explosive remnants of war and the affected land cannot be farmed,” he added.

Joseph Matthews of BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh said because of U.S. bombs many people have lost their lives or been maimed. According to the CMAA, from 1979 to March 2022, unexploded ordnance and landmines had killed 19,816 people and injured 45,175 others in Cambodia.

“I strongly believe that the U.S. is morally responsible for the suffering of these people and ethically and legally bound to adequately compensate the families of those who had lost their lives or were maimed by these unexploded ordnance and landmines,” Matthews told Xinhua.

WOUNDS TO BE HEALED
Chhum Thea is 62 now. He lost his left arm to a mine in Kampong Cham province in 1990.

“U.S. planes bombed my village often during the war. The earth trembled as if it was an earthquake,” he told Xinhua.

The bombs caused huge destruction. The U.S. must help Cambodia and compensate the innocent victims. I want the U.S. to heal the wounds that it created.” Xinhua

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501075624/ ... -cambodia/
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Re: 1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

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Time definitely doesn't heal all wounds, Absolutely tragic the damage these US bombs have done decades after Nixons secret bombing raids finished.
Surely there is a moral obligation to assist the innocent victims.
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Re: 1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

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Grand Barong wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 9:07 am Time definitely doesn't heal all wounds, Absolutely tragic the damage these US bombs have done decades after Nixons secret bombing raids finished.
Surely there is a moral obligation to assist the innocent victims.
The "secret" bombing was only a tiny proportion of the total. That was Operation Menu which targeted PAVN/NLF camps near the border. The much more expanded Operation Freedom Deal wasn't at all secret. It was in support of the Khmer Republic and most Cambodians at the time agreed with it as it prevented the communist takeover. Places as close as Kien Svay and Boueng Tumpun were bombed, it's pretty hard to keep stuff like that secret.
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Re: 1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

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John Bingham wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 12:34 pm
Grand Barong wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 9:07 am Time definitely doesn't heal all wounds, Absolutely tragic the damage these US bombs have done decades after Nixons secret bombing raids finished.
Surely there is a moral obligation to assist the innocent victims.
The "secret" bombing was only a tiny proportion of the total. That was Operation Menu which targeted PAVN/NLF camps near the border. The much more expanded Operation Freedom Deal wasn't at all secret. It was in support of the Khmer Republic and most Cambodians at the time agreed with it as it prevented the communist takeover. Places as close as Kien Svay and Boueng Tumpun were bombed, it's pretty hard to keep stuff like that secret.
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Re: 1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

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I remember reading about the big boss had laid landmines, but can't remember the location.

Easy, just stick a pin here -

Image

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Re: 1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

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Another Huge Bomb Fished Out of the Mekong Close to Phnom Penh
Cambodia News (Kandal Province): On May 23, 2022, a 230kg MK-82 bomb was discovered in the Mekong River, not far from Phnom Penh in Rolang Kaen commune, Kandal province, and was successfully defused by the CMAC (Cambodia Mine Action Centre) experts.

The bomb was taken to the CMAC headquarters to be destroyed.
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Re: 1-Ton Bomb Fished Out River in Central Phnom Penh

Post by John Bingham »

MK82 is common,they were dropped by B52s I believe these much larger bombs were dropped during WW2, I will post some evidence later.
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