Weapons cache found

Kim Sarom, The Phnom Penh Post, 19 November 2013

A cache of 130 AK-47 rifles, ammunition and two unexploded rockets have been found by a group of children in the Oral mountain range, Kampong Chhnang police officials said yesterday.

Khem Vibol, police chief at Teuk Phos district, where the weapons were reported to the authorities, said yesterday that the weapons and unexploded ordnance (UXO) – B40 and B41 rockets – were found on Dos Kromom mountain on November 10.

The rifles were buried in a shallow hole and police are guarding the area while provincial police and the Cambodian Mine Action Centre decide how to proceed, he said. There are fears there may be unexploded mines in the area.

Penh Savat, the provincial acting director at CMAC, said he would collaborate with police to remove the UXO and rifles after the Water Festival holiday concludes.

He added that the mountain may have been an old Khmer Rouge base but was not easily accessible and would require an overnight march across six other mountains to reach the area.