Issue link: http://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25038
· , : .. Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines: PO Box 2295, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Tel/fax: +855 23 60 199. E-mail: ngoforum@pactok.peg.apc.org HALO Trust: PO Box 7712, London SW1V 3ZA, UK. Tel: +44 171 821 9244. Fax: +44 171 834 0198 International Committee for the Red Cross: "Landmines Must Be Stopped" cam paign, 19 avenue de la Paix, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland. Tel: +41 22 734 60 01. www.icrc.org. Refugees International: 2639 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 202, Washington, DC 20008. Tel: 800-REFUGEE. O'Smach lies 40 kilometers north of Samrong town at the end of a ride that seems like the path in Dante's Inferno. Many of the deaths and injuries are from this perilous Route 68. Just after the burned-out and dismantled (wood has become a precious commodity) village of Kong Kriel, a bridge crosses a stream. Ambushes occur almost daily along this stretch, which is a good 20 kilometers from the official "frontline" (as if there was a chalked division in the open, dry landscape) or at least the last government foxholes. In December, two civilians were killed on this part of the road when their truck took a direct hit from a B40 rocket. A Japanese photojournalist who was following on a moped (the regular and safest way to go to war here) described it as "barbecue." The Khmer Rouge has laid mines along Route 68 during the night so I am advised to "go to the 'frontline' late in the morning"-it's never wise to be the first out on that dusty road-"and don't wear blue or white, make yourself inconspicuous, dress like a soldier." A soldier, his hands shattered while retrieving landmines, smokes a cigarette with his remaining two fingers. His unit had laid the mines around their sleeping quarters the night before for protection. He will probably end up in the military hospital in Phnom Penh, his hometown. He will probably be discharged from the army, but others suffering from less severe battle wounds or malaria will be forced to return to the front to fight another day. He says he is happy he won't have to fight in the jungle where everyone is terrified of the landmines. m! nary ai, the destination for most of the seriously woun ed evacuated from Samrong (it was impossible to get permission to visit), offici refused to disclose casualty numbers. But the number of deaths reported Samrong alone far exceed the government's estimates, which claim that only government soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded in a December assault.