PHNOM PENH, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has been constructing a building in the shape of a PMN-2 antipersonnel landmine, a mine clearance chief said on Monday.
Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, said the project is being developed in the complex of the Techo Peace Museum in northwestern Siem Reap province.
He made the announcement on social media, with some photographs showing the construction site of the building.
Ratana said the 17-meter-high building is 108 meters by 108 meters on the ground floor and has a circle with a diameter of 52 meters on the second floor.
He added that the project will be completed and inaugurated in early 2026.
"This building will become one of Cambodia's treasures, showing the royal government's firm commitment to implementing the Ottawa Convention, also known as the Mine Ban Treaty," he said.
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 indicated that from 1979 to June 2025, landmine and ERW explosions had claimed 19,843 lives and maimed 45,267 others.
The Southeast Asian country is committed to clearing all types of landmines and ERWs by 2030. ■
