Large Weapons Cache Found in Battambang

A large weapons cache was found in Peam Ta village, Tatauk commune, Somlouth district of Battambang province. About 1700 weapons have been unearthed so far.

Mr. Sin Sas, Chief of Peam Ta village, who attended the commune level workshop organized by JSAC in cooperation with the Commune Council of Tatauk on January 4, 2006, provided the information which led to the discovery of this weapons cache.

Mr. Sin Sas has been living in this area since 1994 but fled to a refugee camp in 1997. When he came back to the area in 1999, he noticed that the spot of weapons cache looked different from what it did two years ago. After attending the JSAC workshop, he understood that he should inform the local authorities about the weapon cache. The weapons removal thus began on March 29,^, 2006. As of April 1, about 1,700 weapons were discovered, while it is expected that a large number still remain and will be removed in the continuing operation.

JSAC’s awareness raising workshops have led to the discovery of such a large weapons cache this time. Furthermore it is continuing its cooperation with the police, military, military police and CMAC for the removal operation of this weapons cache.

On his visit to the site, Mr. Kazuki Takeuchi, Director of JSAC, expressed his satisfaction with the results of JSAC activities that led to the discovery of such weapons cache. He also voiced his expectations to collect further weapons in the future by continuing cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, local authorities and other relevant organizations.

ENDS

Note for Editors:
Japan Assistance Team for Small Arms Management in Cambodia (JSAC)

Japan Assistance Team for Small Arms Management in Cambodia is a project team to assist the implementation of the “Peace Building and Comprehensive Small Arms Management Program in Cambodia”, which is funded by the Government of Japan through Japan Cooperation System (JICS). JSAC has been comprehensively supporting weapons reduction and peace building in Cambodia, with its 5 projects (1. Weapons Reduction and Development for Peace Project, 2. Safe Storage and Registration Project, 3. Weapons Destruction Project, 4.Public Awareness Project, 5. National Commission Support Project).

For more information on JSAC’s activities, please refer to its website:
http://www.bigpond.com.kh/users/adm.jsac/ (Japanese)
http://www.online.com.kh/~adm.jsac/topENG.html (English)