Cambodia imports another 10 mine-sniffing dogs

Ten mine-detection dogs were airlifted to Cambodia from Bosnia on Friday, bringing the number of expert dogs in Cambodia to 44, an official said.

Prak Somathy, leader of mine-detection dog project at the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), said the new puppies are part of 18 dogs that the Norwegian People's Aid donated to CMAC for 2015.

He said a mine-sniffing dog costs approximately 36,000 U.S. dollars.

"Those expert dogs will be used to sniff out landmines in four provinces that have been worst affected by landmines," he told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport while receiving the new dogs.

Cambodia has one of the world's highest rates of unexploded munitions. An estimated 4 to 6 million landmines and other munitions were left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.

Landmine blasts killed 11 people and injured 55 others in the first six months of 2015, according to the CMAC's latest figures.

In April, Belgian non-governmental organization Apopo imported 15 African giant pouched rats into Cambodia to help detect landmines buried throughout the country's jungles and countryside. Endi