Aki Ra: Former Khmer Rouge Soldier Disarms Landmines By Hand

Aki Ra was barely old enough to walk when he was conscripted into Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge as a child soldier. At the age of five, instead of learning the alphabet, he learned to plant deadly land mines in the ground. As he grew, he became adept at the Khmer Rouge’s deadly guerilla warfare tactics, and planted thousands of explosive-laden mines in the soil. He had no choice in the matter.

 

Ra regretted what he had done during his time in the Khmer Rouge—and he vowed to spend the rest of his life making it up to his fellow Cambodians. He remembered where he had buried many of the landmines, and knew how to quickly and safely disarm them. So, armed only with a metal detector, a small pocketknife, and several other small tools, he began locating land mines on the ground and disarming them by hand.

Watch Aki Ra disarm landmines in this video.

So, for more than 20 years, Ra has traveled through the Cambodian countryside, disarming thousands of active mines and leading safety education programs for villages. Though the mines are filled with TNT and could detonate at any second, Ra has never been injured in his work.

Aki Ra: Former Khmer Rouge Soldier Disarms Landmines By Hand | Gimundo | Good News... Served Daily