AP | Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
Cambodia’s prime minister said a villager was killed when shooting broke out on Wednesday along the volatile border with Thailand, as the ceasefire partly brokered by US President Donald Trump that ended five days of combat between the two nations appeared to be breaking down.
The reported death occurred two days after a Thai solder lost a foot to a land mine while patrolling another area of the border. Thailand blamed Cambodia for the blast and announced it was suspending honouring the terms of the ceasefire, which was originally agreed to on July 28.
Trump had threatened to withhold trade privileges from the two countries unless they stopped fighting. The pact was reaffirmed in greater detail last month when Trump attended an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit meeting in Malaysia.
Territorial disputes over exactly where the border lies between the Southeast Asian neighbours led to five days of armed conflict in late July that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Tuesday went to the border to visit front-line troops and told reporters that Thailand had consistently sought to honour the ceasefire agreement, but that Cambodia had tried to delay progress, so Thailand would also not carry out its terms.
“Today, we consider that the deal that we made in order to bring peace is now over,” he said. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura later clarified that Thailand has not officially withdrawn from the agreement but has only paused its implementation.
According to a statement posted on the Telegram social media platform by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, one civilian was killed and three others wounded when Thai troops opened fire on civilians residing in the area of Prey Chan in Cambodia’s northwestern province of Banteay Meanchey.
The same village was the site of a violent but not lethal confrontation in September between Thai security personnel and Cambodian villagers.
“It should be noted that this attack occurred after the Thai forces engaged in numerous provocative actions for many days with the objective of instigating confrontations,” Hun Manet wrote, adding that Cambodia still accepted the ceasefire terms.
The Thai military said the incident began when Cambodian soldiers allegedly fired into a district in Thailand’s eastern province of Sa Kaeo.
“Thai forces took cover and fired warning shots in response, following rules of engagement,” said a statement from army spokesperson Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree. “The incident lasted about 10 minutes before calm was restored. No Thai casualties were reported.”
A villager from Prey Chan contacted by phone recounted how she was starting to prepare dinner for her family when she heard gunshots come from territory held by Thailand.
“When I heard the gunshots, I immediately felt very scared and panicked,” said Hul Malis, a mother of four.
“I didn’t know what to do, but I jumped into the bunker for safety. My husband, who was sleeping in the hammock, went into the bunker with me.” She said they built the shelter two months ago,
Thailand and Cambodia have a history of enmity going back centuries, when they were warring empires.
Their competing territorial claims stem largely from a 1907 map, drawn when Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand has argued is inaccurate.
The International Court of Justice in 1962 awarded sovereignty to Cambodia over an area that included the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which still rankles many Thais. The ceasefire does not spell out a path to resolve the underlying basis of the dispute, the longstanding differences over where the border should run.
