Hidden Roads, Hidden Risks: How U.S. satellite imagery is making Cambodia safer

For decades, Cambodia has lived with the legacy of conflict.

Violent conflict, civil war, and genocide from the 1960s through the late 1990s left behind landmines, cluster munitions, and other explosive remnants of war. Today, an estimated 230 square miles of hazardous land still threaten communities across the country.

As Cambodia has rebuilt, much of this dangerous land has changed. Former minefields are now rice and cassava farms, mango and cashew plantations, and growing villages.

But the danger beneath the ground has not disappeared.

For HALO, clearing land starts with a simple question: where does the danger persist?

Answering it is not always easy. Roads and tracks once used during the conflict have disappeared beneath farmland or vegetation. Without knowing where they lay, it can be difficult to understand where mines may still be hidden.

This is especially important as farming changes.

More farmers are using tractors and other mechanized equipment to cultivate their land. While these tools can make farming more productive, they can also disturb the ground more deeply, increasing the risk of triggering anti-vehicle mines.

These mines are designed to destroy vehicles and can cause death or serious injury in a single blast. Unlike anti-personnel mines, they can remain hidden beneath the soil even as people walk across the land without triggering them.

A field may be farmed for years without an accident. But that does not mean the land is safe.

HALO's survey teams combine historical research, community knowledge, and field assessments to identify areas that may need clearance.

To strengthen this work, HALO Cambodia turned to a remarkable source of information: declassified U.S. military satellite imagery captured more than 40 years ago.

From nearly 30,000 publicly released images, HALO identified those covering northwestern Cambodia, where many of the explosive hazards are concentrated.

By comparing these historic images with modern satellite data, HALO can see what today's landscape no longer shows.

Old roads and tracks begin to reappear. These were strategic routes where anti-vehicle mines were often laid during the conflict. Over time, some were ploughed into farmland or reclaimed by vegetation.

The imagery helps HALO identify hidden road networks and focus its survey work on areas where the risk is greatest.

Since the project began, HALO has surveyed and identified more than 100 sites for future clearance.

One of these sites is in Dei S'et, in Pailin province.

Pailin's history as a former Khmer Rouge stronghold shaped the mine threat that remains today. During decades of conflict, mines were laid along strategic routes used to move weapons, food, and troops and around the K5 mine belt along the Cambodia-Thailand border.

Today, those former routes can run directly through productive farmland.

In Dei S'et, declassified U.S. imagery revealed an old road network beneath land now being farmed. A recent accident nearby confirmed that the danger remains.

U.S.-funded operations have since identified and safely destroyed three anti-vehicle mines in active farmland, removing the threat and helping families cultivate their land with greater confidence.

With survey and clearance teams funded by the United States through the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, HALO is transforming historic satellite data into safer land, stronger economic opportunities, and greater security for communities across Cambodia.

Every mine or explosive remnant of war located through this innovative approach brings Cambodia one step closer to a future where families can farm, travel, and build their lives without fear.