Thai soldiers wounded by land mine on Cambodian border amid ceasefire
BANGKOK (Reuters) -- Three Thai soldiers were wounded by a land mine while patrolling the border with Cambodia, the Thai army said in a statement on Saturday, days after the two neighbors agreed to a detailed ceasefire following a violent five-day conflict last month.
One soldier lost a foot and two others were wounded after one of them stepped on a land mine as they patrolled an area between Thailand's Sisaket and Cambodia's Preah Vihear provinces on Saturday morning, the Thai army said.
The soldiers are being treated at a hospital, the army said.
Cambodia's Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The incident is the third time in recent weeks that Thai soldiers have been wounded by mines while patrolling along the border. Two previous similar incidents led to the downgrading of diplomatic relations and triggered five days of violent clashes.
The Southeast Asian neighbors were engaged in deadly border clashes from July 24-28, in the worst fighting between the two in more than a decade. The exchanges of artillery fire and fighter jet sorties claimed at least 43 lives and left more than 300,000 people displaced on both sides.
A fragile ceasefire has been holding since Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Thursday to allow observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to inspect disputed border areas to ensure hostilities do not resume.
Bangkok accused Cambodia of planting land mines on the Thai side of the disputed border that wounded soldiers on July 16 and July 23. Phnom Penh denied it had placed any new mines and said the soldiers had veered off agreed routes and triggered old land mines left from its decades of war.
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