Thailand accuses Cambodia of planting landmines after soldier injured

Cambodia dismisses Thai service accusation that it breached truce and planetary instrumentality aft incidental adjacent border.

A Thai worker has been earnestly injured by a landmine adjacent the Cambodian border, days aft some countries agreed to a ceasefire pursuing past month’s deadly borderline clashes.

The soldier’s near ankle was severely damaged connected Tuesday aft helium stepped connected the instrumentality portion patrolling astir 1km (0.6 miles) from the Ta Moan Thom Temple successful Thailand’s Surin province, the service said. He is receiving attraction successful hospital.

Thai service spokesperson Major General Winthai Suvaree said the incidental proved Cambodia had breached the truce and violated planetary agreements, including the Ottawa Convention banning landmines.

“Cambodia continues to covertly works landmines portion the Thai service has consistently adhered to peaceful approaches and has not been the initiating party,” helium said.

The connection warned that if violations continued, Thailand mightiness “exercise the close of self-defence nether planetary instrumentality principles to resoluteness situations that origin Thailand to continuously suffer unit owed to violations of ceasefire agreements and sovereignty encroachments by Cambodian subject forces”.

Phnom Penh dismissed the accusation, insisting it has not laid caller mines.

“Cambodia, arsenic a arrogant and liable State Party to the Ottawa Convention, maintains an implicit and uncompromising position: we person ne'er used, produced, oregon deployed caller landmines nether immoderate circumstances, and we strictly and afloat honour our obligations nether planetary law,” the Cambodian Ministry of National Defence said successful a societal media post.

This is the 4th landmine incidental successful caller weeks involving Thai soldiers on the 2 Southeast Asian neighbours’ disputed border. On Saturday, three soldiers were injured successful a blast betwixt Thailand’s Sisaket state and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province.

Two earlier incidents connected July 16 and 23 prompted a downgrade successful diplomatic relations and triggered 5 days of warring that erupted connected July 24.

Those battles, the worst betwixt the neighbours successful much than a decade, saw exchanges of artillery occurrence and aerial strikes that killed astatine slightest 43 radical and displaced much than 300,000 connected some sides.

Thailand has accused Cambodia of planting mines connected its broadside of the border, which stretches 817km (508 miles), with ownership of the Ta Moan Thom and 11th-century Preah Vihear temples astatine the bosom of the dispute.

The fragile truce has held since past week erstwhile some governments agreed to let Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) observers to show contested areas to forestall further fighting.