“Hostilities still remain” with Cambodia, Thailand’s army said yesterday, a day after Bangkok suspended the implementation of a US-backed peace deal over a landmine blast that wounded four troops.
The deal, brokered last month by US President Donald Trump, was meant to wind down a conflict that peaked with five days of clashes in July, killing at least 43 people and displacing about 300,000 civilians on both sides.
Both sides agreed under the pact to withdraw heavy weapons from the border region and to give access to ceasefire monitors. Thailand also pledged to return 18 captured Cambodian troops.
Photo: Royal Thai Army via AFP
Cambodia said the situation on the border “remains calm.”
However, Thailand’s response suggested that tensions have returned with the suspension of the pact’s implementation.
“The truth has become clear that hostilities still remain,” Royal Thai Army Commander-in-Chief General Pana Klaewblaudtuk said in a statement.
“The Thai Army needs to suspend the joint declaration to safeguard our right to self-defense,” it said, referring to the pact.
The Thai army said that four soldiers were wounded by Monday’s landmine blast in Sisaket Province.
Apparent mine blasts wounding Thai troops were a key catalyst when tensions flared in July, igniting a long-standing territorial dispute over border temples.
The Cambodian Ministry of National Defense said it “expresses its regret” over the latest mine blast, but that the munitions were relics of past conflicts.
“After the incident, both military forces on the front lines had communicated with each other and as of now the situation remains calm,” it said in a statement.
The ministry said Cambodia “remains committed” to the peace deal, signed in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 26 under the stewardship of Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
International Crisis Group senior analyst for Southeast Asia Matthew Wheeler said it was “predictable” that the agreement would break down.
“It was plainly concluded to placate President Trump on matters unrelated to the conflict, namely, trade and Trump’s desire to be perceived as a peacemaker,” he said in a statement.
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