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The Star
3 days ago
- The Star
Thai soldiers injured by landmine near Cambodia amid fragile ceasefire
BANGKOK (Reuters) -Three Thai soldiers were injured by a landmine while patrolling the border with Cambodia, the Thai army said in a statement on Saturday, days after the two neighbours agreed to a detailed ceasefire following a violent five-day conflict last month. One soldier lost a foot and two others were injured after one of them stepped on a landmine 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 defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The incident is the third time in a few weeks that Thai soldiers have been injured 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 neighbours 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 jet fighter sorties claimed at least 43 lives and left over 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 landmines on the Thai side of the disputed border that injured 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 landmines left from its decades of war. (Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Tom Hogue)
Japan Today
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Thailand F-16 jet bombs Cambodian targets as border clash escalates
Firefighters work to extinguish fire at a convenience store at a gas station, amid the clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, in Kantharalak district, Sisaket province, Thailand, July 24, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. TPBS/Handout via REUTERS By Panu Wongcha-um and Chayut Setboonsarng A Thai F-16 fighter jet bombed targets in Cambodia, both sides said, as weeks of tension over a border dispute escalated into clashes on Thursday that have killed at least 12 people, including 11 civilians. Of the six F-16 fighter jets that Thailand readied to deploy along the disputed border, one of the aircraft fired into Cambodia and destroyed a military target, the Thai army said. Both countries accused each other of starting the clash early on Thursday. "We have used air power against military targets as planned," Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon told reporters. Thailand also closed its border with Cambodia. Cambodia's defence ministry said the jets dropped two bombs on a road, and that it "strongly condemns the reckless and brutal military aggression of the Kingdom of Thailand against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia". The skirmishes came after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia late on Wednesday and said it would expel Cambodia's envoy in Bangkok, after a second Thai soldier in the space of a week lost a limb to a landmine that Bangkok alleged had been laid recently in the disputed area. Thailand's health minister said 11 civilians, including a child, and one soldier were killed in artillery shelling by Cambodian forces while 24 civilians and seven military personnel were wounded. There was no immediate word of casualties in Cambodia. "The Thai Army condemns Cambodia for using weapons to attack civilians in Thailand. Thailand is ready to protect sovereignty and our people from inhumane action," the country's military said in a statement. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, the current chair of Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN in which Thailand and Cambodia are also members, urged calm and said he would speak to leaders of both countries to peacefully resolve their dispute. China also expressed concern at the fighting and said it was willing to play a role in promoting de-escalation. Thai residents including children and the elderly ran to shelters built of concrete and fortified with sandbags and car tires in the Surin border province. "How many rounds have been fired? It's countless," an unidentified woman told the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS) while hiding in the shelter as gunfire and explosions were heard intermittently in the background. Cambodia's foreign ministry said Thailand's air strikes were "unprovoked" and called on its neighbour to withdraw its forces and "refrain from any further provocative actions that could escalate the situation". For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817-km (508-mile) land border, which has led to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a weeklong exchange of artillery in 2011. Tensions were reignited in May following the killing of a Cambodian soldier during a brief exchange of gunfire, which escalated into a full-blown diplomatic crisis and now has triggered armed clashes. LANDMINES The clashes began early on Thursday near the disputed Ta Moan Thom temple along the border between Cambodia and Thailand, around 360 km (225 miles) east of the Thai capital Bangkok. Thailand's Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told reporters the deaths took place across three border provinces and included an 8-year-old boy in Surin. He added the Cambodian shelling included a strike on a hospital in Surin province, which he said should be considered a war crime. "Artillery shell fell on people's homes," Sutthirot Charoenthanasak, district chief of Kabcheing in Surin province, told Reuters, adding authorities had evacuated 40,000 civilians from 86 border villages to safer locations. "Two people have died," he added. Video footage showed a plume of thick black smoke rising from a gas station in the neighbouring Thai Sisaket province, as firefighters rushed to extinguish the blaze. A total of eight people have been killed and 15 wounded in Sisaket, the health minister said, adding another person was killed in the border province of Ubon Ratchathani. The army said Cambodia deployed a surveillance drone before sending troops with heavy weapons, including rocket launchers, to an area near the Ta Moan Thom temple. A spokesperson for Cambodia's defence ministry, however, said there had been an unprovoked incursion by Thai troops and Cambodian forces had responded in self-defence. Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the situation was delicate. "We have to be careful," he told reporters. "We will follow international law." An attempt by Thailand's then premier Paetongtarn Shinawatra to resolve the recent tensions via a call with Cambodia's influential former Prime Minister Hun Sen, the contents of which were leaked, kicked off a political storm in Thailand, leading to her suspension by a court. Hun Sen said in a Facebook post that two Cambodian provinces had come under shelling from the Thai military. Thailand this week accused Cambodia of placing landmines in a disputed area that injured three soldiers. Phnom Penh denied the claim and said the soldiers had veered off agreed routes and triggered a mine left behind from decades of war. Cambodia has many landmines left over from its civil war decades ago, numbering in the millions according to de-mining groups. But Thailand maintains landmines have been placed at the border area recently, which Cambodia has described as baseless allegations. © (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025.
Daily Maverick
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Thailand F-16 jet bombs Cambodian targets as border clash escalates
By Panu Wongcha-um, Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat Of the six F-16 fighter jets that Thailand readied to deploy along the disputed border, one of the aircraft fired into Cambodia and destroyed a military target, the Thai army said. Both countries accused each other of starting the clash early on Thursday. 'We have used air power against military targets as planned,' Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon told reporters. Thailand also closed its border with Cambodia. Cambodia's defence ministry said the jets dropped two bombs on a road, and that it 'strongly condemns the reckless and brutal military aggression of the Kingdom of Thailand against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia'. The skirmishes came after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia late on Wednesday and said it would expel Cambodia's envoy in Bangkok, after a second Thai soldier in the space of a week lost a limb to a landmine that Bangkok alleged had been laid recently in the disputed area. Thailand's health minister said 11 civilians, including a child, and one soldier were killed in artillery shelling by Cambodian forces while 24 civilians and seven military personnel were wounded. There was no immediate word of casualties in Cambodia. 'The Thai Army condemns Cambodia for using weapons to attack civilians in Thailand. Thailand is ready to protect sovereignty and our people from inhumane action,' the country's military said in a statement. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, the current chair of Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN in which Thailand and Cambodia are also members, urged calm and said he would speak to leaders of both countries to peacefully resolve their dispute. China also expressed concern at the fighting and said it was willing to play a role in promoting de-escalation. Thai residents including children and the elderly ran to shelters built of concrete and fortified with sandbags and car tires in the Surin border province. 'How many rounds have been fired? It's countless,' an unidentified woman told the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS) while hiding in the shelter as gunfire and explosions were heard intermittently in the background. Cambodia's foreign ministry said Thailand's air strikes were 'unprovoked' and called on its neighbour to withdraw its forces and 'refrain from any further provocative actions that could escalate the situation'. For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817-km (508-mile) land border, which has led to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a weeklong exchange of artillery in 2011. Tensions were reignited in May following the killing of a Cambodian soldier during a brief exchange of gunfire, which escalated into a full-blown diplomatic crisis and now has triggered armed clashes. LANDMINES The clashes began early on Thursday near the disputed Ta Moan Thom temple along the border between Cambodia and Thailand, around 360 km (225 miles) east of the Thai capital Bangkok. Thailand'sHealth Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told reporters the deaths took place across three border provinces and included an 8-year-old boy in Surin. He added the Cambodian shelling included a strike on a hospital in Surin province, which he said should be considered a war crime. 'Artillery shell fell on people's homes,' Sutthirot Charoenthanasak, district chief of Kabcheing in Surin province, told Reuters, adding authorities had evacuated 40,000 civilians from 86 border villages to safer locations. 'Two people have died,' he added. Video footage showed a plume of thick black smoke rising from a gas station in the neighbouring Thai Sisaket province, as firefighters rushed to extinguish the blaze. A total of eight people have been killed and 15 wounded in Sisaket, the health minister said, adding another person was killed in the border province of Ubon Ratchathani. The army said Cambodia deployed a surveillance drone before sending troops with heavy weapons, including rocket launchers, to an area near the Ta Moan Thom temple. A spokesperson for Cambodia's defence ministry, however, said there had been an unprovoked incursion by Thai troops and Cambodian forces had responded in self-defence. Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the situation was delicate. 'We have to be careful,' he told reporters. 'We will follow international law.' An attempt by Thailand's then premier Paetongtarn Shinawatra to resolve the recent tensions via a call with Cambodia's influential former Prime Minister Hun Sen, the contents of which were leaked, kicked off a political storm in Thailand, leading to her suspension by a court. Hun Sen said in a Facebook post that two Cambodian provinces had come under shelling from the Thai military. Thailand this week accused Cambodia of placing landmines in a disputed area that injured three soldiers. Phnom Penh denied the claim and said the soldiers had veered off agreed routes and triggered a mine left behind from decades of war. Cambodia has many landmines left over from its civil war decades ago, numbering in the millions according to de-mining groups. But Thailand maintains landmines have been placed at the border area recently, which Cambodia has described as baseless allegations.
The Star
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Landmine dispute escalates tensions between Thailand and Cambodia
BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand has accused Cambodia of recently placing landmines in a disputed border area after three soldiers were injured, but Phnom Penh said they had veered off agreed patrol routes and triggered a mine left behind from decades of war. Thai authorities made the claim after three soldiers were injured, with one losing a foot,by a landmine explosion while on a routine patrol on July 16 on the Thai side of the disputed border area between Ubon Ratchathani and Cambodia's Preah Vihear province. Cambodia's Defence Ministry denied that new mines had been planted, saying in a statement on Sunday the soldiers had strayed from agreed patrol routes into areas that contain unexploded landmines. The country is littered with landmines laid during decades of war. Thailand's army said on Monday that 10 freshly laid Russian-made PMN-2 type landmines, which are not used or stockpiled by Thailand, were found between July 18 and July 20 in areas near where the soldiers were injured. "This is a clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Thailand and an outright breach of principles that are fundamental to international law," Maratee Nalita Andamo, deputy spokesperson for the Thai Foreign Ministry, said on Monday in Bangkok. Data from the Cambodia Mine Action Centre, which estimates there are still 4 to 6 million landmines scattered across the country, shows five people were killed and a dozen injured by mines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia in the first four months of 2025. The area where the mine exploded is near where a Cambodian soldier was killed in May after a brief exchange of gunfire between troops on both sides. The incident has flared into a broader diplomatic dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbours that has destabilised the Thai government and seen the Prime Minister suspended from office. Thailand said it will issue a formal condemnation and call for accountability from Cambodia for breaching the anti-landmine convention under the Ottawa Treaty, and the army will also increase vigilance during border patrols. (Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by John Mair)
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Explainer-Border tensions: What's behind the row between Thailand and Cambodia?
By Panu Wongcha-um BANGKOK (Reuters) -Tension has been rising between Thailand and Cambodia following the killing of a Cambodian soldier in May during a brief exchange of gunfire at a disputed border area between the two Southeast Asian neighbours. WHERE DOES THE DISPUTE ORIGINATE? Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817 km (508 miles) land border, which was first mapped by France in 1907 when Cambodia was its colony. That map, which Thailand later contested, was based on an agreement that the border would be demarcated along the natural watershed line between the two countries. In 2000, the two countries agreed to establish a Joint Border Commission to peacefully address overlapping claims, but little progress has been made towards settling disputes. Claims over ownership of historical sites have raised nationalist tension between the two countries, notably in 2003 when rioters torched the Thai embassy and Thai businesses in Phnom Penh over an alleged remark by a Thai celebrity questioning jurisdiction over Cambodia's World Heritage-listed Angkor Wat temple. WHAT WERE PREVIOUS FLASHPOINTS? An 11th century Hindu temple called Preah Vihear, or Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand, has been at the heart of the dispute for decades, with both Bangkok and Phnom Penh claiming historical ownership. The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but Thailand has continued to lay claim to the surrounding land. Tension escalated in 2008 after Cambodia attempted to list the Preah Vihear temple as a UNESCO World Heritage site, leading to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a weeklong exchange of artillery in 2011. Two years later, Cambodia sought interpretation of the 1962 verdict and the ICJ again ruled in its favour, saying the land around the temple was also part of Cambodia and ordering Thai troops to withdraw. WHAT'S BEHIND RECENT TROUBLES? Despite the historic rivalry, the current governments of Thailand and Cambodia enjoy warm ties, partly due to the close relationship between their influential former leaders, Thailand's Thaksin Shinawatra and Cambodia's Hun Sen, whose daughter and son respectively are now the respective prime ministers in their countries. Thaksin and Hun Sen also remain active in politics. But nationalist sentiment has risen in Thailand after conservatives last year questioned the government's plan to negotiate with Cambodia to jointly explore energy resources in undemarcated maritime areas, warning such a move could risk Thailand losing the island of Koh Kood in the Gulf of Thailand. Tensions also rose in February when a group of Cambodians escorted by troops sang their national anthem at another ancient Hindu temple that both countries claim, Ta Moan Thom, before being stopped by Thai soldiers. The issue is a problem for Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, whose government is facing multiple challenges on the domestic front, including a stuttering economy facing steep U.S. tariffs. Thailand's military, however, has ramped up the rhetoric with statements that have contrasted with the government's conciliatory tone, expressing readiness for a "high-level operation" if sovereignty comes under threat. Paetongtarn later echoed the military's position but said a peaceful resolution of the disputes was Thailand's priority. The mixed messaging underlines the troubled history between the billionaire Shinawatra family and the royalist military, which toppled its governments in 2006 and 2014. HOW IS THE ISSUE BEING RESOLVED? After the May 28 clash, both countries quickly promised to ease tension, prevent more conflict and seek dialogue via their joint border commission at a meeting planned for June 14. The neighbours have issued diplomatically worded statements committing to peace while vowing to protect sovereignty, but their militaries have been mobilising near the border, raising concerns about another flare-up. Cambodia, meanwhile, said existing mechanisms were not working and it planned to refer disputes in four border areas to the ICJ to settle "unresolved and sensitive" issues that it said could escalate tensions. Thailand has not recognised the ICJ's rulings on the row and wants to settle it bilaterally.
