Thailand yesterday accused Cambodia of violating a 10-day-old truce, saying cross-border mortar fire wounded a soldier, while Phnom Penh said a “pile of garbage” exploded, injuring two of its own troops.
The Thai military said it warned Cambodian forces to exercise caution, stressing that if a similar incident occurred, Thailand might need to retaliate.
A decades-old border dispute between the Southeast Asian nations erupted into military clashes several times last year, with fighting last month killing dozens of people and displacing about 1 million on both sides.
Photo: AFP / Agence Kampuchea Press
The two nations agreed a fragile truce on Dec. 27, ending three weeks of clashes.
“Cambodia has violated the ceasefire,” the Thai army said in a statement, accusing Cambodian forces of firing mortar rounds into Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani Province.
One Thai soldier was hospitalized due to non-life-threatening shrapnel wounds to his right arm, the army said.
The Thai army in a separate statement said that the Cambodian side had contacted a Thai military unit and claimed “there was no intention to fire into Thai territory,” adding “the incident was caused by an operational error by Cambodian personnel.”
Cambodian Ministry of National Defense spokeswoman Maly Socheata said two Cambodian soldiers were injured, one severely, yesterday morning when “an explosion occurred from a pile of garbage.”
The incident happened while Cambodian forces were performing “organization and orderliness” duties in Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Province, which is opposite Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani Province, she said in a statement.
The two injured soldiers were hospitalized.
Maly Socheata did not mention the strike alleged by Thailand, but said both nations’ border coordination teams had consulted on the incident involving the Cambodian soldiers and addressed the matter.
The explosion occurred in a frontier region known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of both nations and Laos meet, she said.
A Cambodian soldier in May last year was killed in a firefight with Thai troops in the area, reigniting the border conflict.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said his government had lodged a protest with Phnom Penh, stating “the truce was violated.”
“At the military-to-military level, we have been told the incident was an accident, but we are seeking clarification on how responsibility will be taken,” Anutin told reporters in Bangkok.
He added that Thailand had the “capability to respond” to Cambodia, which is vastly outgunned by its neighbor.
The nations’ long-standing conflict stems from a dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800km border, where both sides claim territory.
Under the truce, Cambodia and Thailand pledged to cease fire, freeze troop movements and cooperate on demining efforts along the border.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS