Three Thai soldiers injured by landmine on border with Cambodia, army says
The incident, in which a Thai sergeant major suffered severe injuries, came two days after the countries reasserted their commitment to a ceasefire that ended a brief but intense period of fighting. Cambodia denies the accusation.
The army's statement said the incident took place in Thailand's Sisaket province and 'clearly demonstrates to both domestic and international society that the use of concealed weapons in border areas continues to exist, constituting a clear violation of the Ottawa Convention by the Cambodian side'.
The Ottawa Convention is an international treaty banning the use of landmines, signed by 164 countries, including Cambodia and Thailand.
The incident on Saturday risks enflaming tensions, which remain high despite the fragile truce agreed on 29 July to end the armed conflict.
Five days of fighting broke out last month after five Thai soldiers were wounded when one stepped on a mine in disputed territory. The clashes, which killed at least 43 people on either side of the border and displaced more than 260,000, amounted to the worst fighting between the neighbouring countries in more than a decade.
Since the truce was agreed, both sides have accused the other of breaching it. Relations remain rocky while anger is being stirred online by a mix of disinformation, threats and nationalism.
Two days after the two sides met in Malaysia to sign a 13-point agreement on implementing their ceasefire, the Thai army's statement said that Saturday's incident constituted 'a significant obstacle to the implementation of ceasefire measures and peaceful resolution of problems'.
Cambodia strongly denies laying new concealed weapons. 'We have not, and will not, plant new landmines,' the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority said in a statement.
It said that Cambodia has cleared more than 1m mines and nearly 3m other unexploded weapons dating back to a period of war and civil unrest that began in 1970 and lasted more than three decades.
A Thai sergeant major suffered severe injuries, including losing his left foot in Saturday's incident, according to the Thai army statement, while two privates suffered less serious injuries.
Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
8 minutes ago
- The Independent
Explosion at Lebanese arms depot kills 6 army experts, wounds several others
Munition in an arms depot in south Lebanon exploded Saturday as army experts were dismantling them, killing six of them and wounding several others, the army said. The incident occurred on the edge of the southern village of Zibqin in Tyre province, the army said. It added that efforts were being made to determine the cause of the blast but gave no further details. The depot is believed to have been used by the militant group Hezbollah. The blast took place south of the Litani River in an area where Hezbollah withdrew its fighters under the terms of a ceasefire that ended a 14-month conflict with Israel in November. Over the past months, Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers have been taking over Hezbollah posts in the area. On Thursday, the Lebanese Cabinet voted in favor of a U.S.-backed plan to disarm Hezbollah and implement a ceasefire with Israel. The Lebanese government asked the national army to prepare a plan in which only state institutions in the small nation will have weapons by the end of the year. Hezbollah officials have said they will not disarm before Israel withdraws from five hills along the border and stops airstrikes that have killed more than 250 people since the ceasefire. The government's decision has angered Hezbollah and its supporters, who have been staging protests in areas where the Iran-backed group enjoys support. The army warned in a statement Friday that it will not allow any attempts to endanger the country's security. It warned protesters that it will not allow the closing of roads or attack private or public property.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Horror as body of woman found chained ‘by the neck' and dumped underwater tied down with two dumbbells
A WOMAN'S body has been found chained by the neck and tied underwater with two concrete dumbbells at a popular fishing pier in Thailand. The horror discovery was made after stunned locals spotted the corpse floating close to shore. 1 The body was found on Friday near Ban Tha Yai pier in Phang Nga's Mueang district. Police Lieutenant Pheerawit Chaichanyut of Khok Kloi Police Station said officers rushed to the scene with Kusoltham Foundation rescue workers after receiving an emergency call. The victim – whose identity, address, and nationality are still unknown – was wearing grey shorts and a brown round-neck T-shirt. Police believe she had been dead for around two days before being found in the murky waters. A heavy chain had been wrapped tightly around her neck and secured to two concrete dumbbells in what investigators believe was a calculated attempt to keep the body hidden on the seabed. But despite the grim effort, currents carried her to the surface and she drifted close to land. "This is a serious case, and we are treating it as a possible murder," Pol. Lt. Pheerawit said. "The way the body was weighted down points towards an attempt to conceal it." The body has been sent for a full autopsy to determine the cause of death and whether the woman was alive before entering the water. Local leaders and neighbouring districts have been told to check missing persons reports for anyone matching her description. Cops will meanwhile scour CCTV from the pier and surrounding waterways for suspicious movements in the days before the grim find. Anyone with information – particularly those who may have noticed unusual activity near Ban Tha Yai pier – is urged to contact police immediately. The case echoes a similar discovery in February when a fisherman in Rayong found a woman's decomposed body inside a locked suitcase weighted with two 10kg dumbbells. Her identity also remains unknown. .
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump ‘open to' Zelensky attending Alaska summit with Putin
Donald Trump has said he will meet with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine. The Russian president is expected to use the summit to set out his demands for a ceasefire deal, which includes Ukraine giving up two eastern regions and its sovereignty of Crimea. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, the US president admitted any peace deal may involve 'some swapping of territories'. Reacting to the announcement, Volodymyr Zelensky said "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier', and warned that any negotiations must include Kyiv. According to reports, the White House is now considering inviting Mr Zelensky to Alaska. A senior White House official has said that Trump 'remains open to a trilateral summit with both leaders. Right now, the White House is focusing on planning the bilateral meeting requested by President Putin '. A joint statement from European leaders – representing the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland and the European Commission – backed a ceasefire but warned that 'international borders must not be changed by force'. Reactions in Kyiv to idea of Ukraine ceding territory range from scepticism to quiet resignation On the streets of Kyiv, reactions to the idea of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia ranged from scepticism to quiet resignation. "It may not be capitulation, but it would be a loss," said Ihor Usatenko, a 67-year-old pensioner, who said he would consider ceding territory "on condition for compensation and, possibly, some reparations." Anastasia Yemelianova, 31, said she was torn: "Honestly, I have two answers to that question. The first is as a person who loves her country. I don't want to compromise within myself," she told the AP. "But seeing all these deaths and knowing that my mother is now living in Nikopol under shelling and my father is fighting, I want all this to end as soon as possible." Others, like Svitlana Dobrynska, whose son died fighting, rejected outright concessions but supported halting combat to save lives. "We don't have the opportunity to launch an offensive to recapture our territories," the 57-year-old pensioner said, "But to prevent people from dying, we can simply stop military operations, sign some kind of agreement, but not give up our territories." Tara Cobham10 August 2025 07:00 Trump to meet Putin in Alaska for Ukraine peace talks 10 August 2025 06:45 Russian drone strike hits civilian bus near Kherson as Ukraine evacuates residents A Russian FPV (first-person-view) drone struck a civilian bus in the suburbs of Kherson on Saturday morning, killing two people and injuring 19 others, local authorities have said. The strike took place around 8am local time. Sixteen people were taken to hospital, with two in serious condition. The victims, aged between 23 and 83, suffered shrapnel and blast injuries. As police recovered the victims' bodies from the bus, a second Russian FPV drone hit the area, injuring three officers with concussions, according to Ukraine's National Police. The attack comes amid escalating Russian strikes across Kherson Oblast. Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said 36 settlements were hit in the past day, leaving one person dead and three injured, including a child. Ukrainian authorities have been evacuating hundreds of residents from the Korabel district of Kherson city, which has been cut off from the rest of the city after Russian forces heavily damaged the only bridge connecting the area last week. According to Politico, only 600 of the 1,800 residents remain in the island district, with at least 200 set to be evacuated on Friday. 'Russians continue to attack the bridge and the area during evacuation,' said Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration. Shahana Yasmin10 August 2025 06:30 Zelensky warns he will not give up land as Trump to meet Putin in Alaska Shahana Yasmin10 August 2025 06:15 Trump's efforts to pressure Russia to end war delivered no progress so far Before Donald Trump announced his summit with Vladimir Putin, his efforts to pressure Russia into stopping the fighting had delivered no progress. The Kremlin's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armour while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump had moved up an ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. The deadline was Friday. But the White House did not answer questions that evening about possible sanctions after Trump announced the meeting with Putin. Tara Cobham10 August 2025 06:00 Drone attacks cause major flight delays at Russia's Sochi airport Dozens of flights were delayed at Sochi Airport on Saturday following reported drone attacks in southern Russia's Krasnodar Krai, according to a report by The Kyiv Independent. Russia's defence ministry said its air defences shot down 10 drones over the region. In response, airspace over Sochi was closed twice on Friday, with restrictions continuing into the next day. By Saturday morning, 57 flights had been delayed and one cancelled, according to independent outlet Meduza, citing data from a flight-tracking app. The disruption extended beyond Sochi, affecting airports in Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Novokuznetsk, and Norilsk. Around 1,000 passengers were left waiting, according to Russia's West Siberian Transport Prosecutor's Office. Ukraine has not commented on the reported drone strikes, but Russia regularly grounds flights or shuts airspace in response to Ukrainian drone activity. Last month, at least one Russian airport faced temporary closure nearly every day. Shahana Yasmin10 August 2025 05:45 Vance and Lammy meet with senior Ukrainian officials in Kent Senior Ukrainian officials met with foreign secretary David Lammy and the US vice president JD Vance on Saturday for security talks at Chevening House in Kent, ahead of Donald Trump's upcoming summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Andriy Yermak, head of Volodymyr Zelensky's office, and Ukraine's national security and defence council secretary Rustem Umerov attended the meeting, along with European national security advisers. Lammy posted photos from the gathering, describing it as part of efforts to support a just peace for Ukraine. The hours-long talks focused on Trump's proposed peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. A US official said the meeting produced 'significant progress' towards Trump's goal of ending the war, though no concrete agreements were announced. In his evening address, Zelensky called the discussions 'constructive'. 'All our messages were conveyed. Our arguments are being heard. The risks are being taken into account. The path to peace for Ukraine must be determined together – and only together – with Ukraine. This is fundamental.' Shahana Yasmin10 August 2025 05:30 Macron says Ukraine's future cannot be decided 'without the Ukrainians' French president Emmanuel Macron has said Ukraine's future must not be decided without the involvement of Ukrainians and Europeans, ahead of Donald Trump's planned summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Any deal between Trump and Putin is expected to involve potential land concessions, which Volodymyr Zelensky has firmly rejected. In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Macron wrote: 'Ukraine's future cannot be decided without the Ukrainians, who have been fighting for their freedom and security for over three years now.' He added that Europe must also be part of any peace solution, as its own security is at stake. 'We remain determined to support Ukraine, working in a spirit of unity and building on the work undertaken within the framework of the Coalition of the Willing,' he said. Shahana Yasmin10 August 2025 05:15 Analysis: A Trump-Putin summit will be as useful to Ukraine and democracy as Agent Orange is for gardening Along-overdue summit between the presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation to discuss peace in Ukraine, where nuclear war has been threatened, must be seen as a historic moment for optimism. Except that from London to Langley, Berlin, Canberra and Tokyo, intelligence chiefs will be on tenterhooks wondering whether this is another occasion resembling the meeting between an agent and his handler. There's no evidence that Donald Trump works for Vladimir Putin. But there is ample evidence that the US president favours Putin's agenda. And that he has done all he can to hobble Ukraine while it attempts to defend itself against a Russian invasion of Europe's eastern flank. The Independent's world affairs editor Sam Kiley reports: Tara Cobham10 August 2025 05:00 Zelensky rejects Putin's land-for-ceasefire proposal, warns of repeat invasion Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has firmly rejected Vladimir Putin's proposal for Ukraine to cede territory in exchange for a ceasefire, warning it would only invite future Russian aggression. In his evening address on Saturday, Zelensky said Russia must face consequences for its invasion, pointing to the West's failure to punish Moscow after the 2014 annexation of Crimea as a mistake that led to wider war.' Putin was allowed to take Crimea, and this led to the occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk... Now Putin wants to be forgiven for seizing even more,' Zelensky said. 'We will not allow this second Russian attempt to divide Ukraine. Where there is a second, there will be a third.' His statement comes ahead of a planned 15 August summit in Alaska between Donald Trump and Putin, where the two are expected to discuss a possible ceasefire plan, which would reportedly see Russia halt hostilities in return for Ukraine handing over its eastern territories. Shahana Yasmin
