The Thai military said ceasefire talks with Cambodia, set to begin yesterday, are expected to conclude with a meeting of the countries’ defense ministers on Saturday, as the two sides seek to end weeks of deadly clashes.
The talks started at 4pm in Thailand’s Chanthaburi Province, which borders Cambodia.
The Thai Ministry of Defense outlined several demands to be discussed ahead of the bilateral meeting of the General Border Committee (GBC) on Saturday.
Photo: AFP
If secretariat-level discussions fail to reach agreement on key technical frameworks such as troop deployments, the Thai side would not proceed with the GBC meeting or sign any agreement on Saturday, the ministry said.
The discussions mark the first bilateral dialogue since clashes erupted on Dec. 7, with at least 44 people killed and more than half a million civilians displaced on both sides of their 800km border.
Five days of clashes in July ended with an initial ceasefire agreement mediated by Malaysia and US President Donald Trump.
The Thai military plans to raise several issues at the talks, including the use of anti-personnel landmines, the use of historical sites as military positions, the firing of heavy weapons from civilian communities, and the use of civilian buildings as military positions or weapons storage facilities.
Both sides have denied targeting civilians, claiming they are only attacking military targets.
The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority has separately condemned what it called Thailand’s military aggression and campaign of misinformation, the Khmer Times reported.
Separately, a Cambodian official accused Thailand of destroying a Hindu statue in a disputed border area.
“The statue was inside our territory in the An Ses area,” said Kim Chanpanha, a government spokesman in the border province of Preah Vihear.
The demolition of the Vishnu statue, which was built in 2014, occurred on Monday about 100m from the border with Thailand, he said.
A Google Maps search showed the statue’s location was about 400m from the border line.
“We condemn the destruction of ancient temples and statues that are worshiped by Buddhist and Hindu followers,” Chanpanha said.
Videos showing the demolition of the Vishnu statue using a back-hoe loader circulated on Thai social media pages on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Thai army had not replied to a request for comment.
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