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Thailand has announced it will cease all activities agreed upon under its US-brokered ceasefire with Cambodia, following a land mine explosion that injured two Thai soldiers in the disputed border region.
The country’s prime minister made the declaration on Monday, just hours after the incident.
The two Southeast Asian nations signed a truce in Malaysia last month, an agreement forged after a five-day conflict in late July killed dozens amid territorial disputes.
Tensions have remained high, with similar land mine incidents reported both before and after the July clashes, including one in August that wounded three Thai soldiers.
In this photo released by Royal Thai Army, two Thai soldiers injured by a landmine during a patrol near the Thai-Cambodia border are treated as they are to be transferred to a hospital (Royal Thai Army)
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Monday’s incident shows that “the hostility towards our national security has not decreased as we thought it would,” adding that all actions to be carried out under the truce agreement will be halted until Thailand’s demands are met.
He did not elaborate on Thailand’s demands. There was no immediate response from the Cambodian government.
The terms of the agreement include Thailand releasing 18 Cambodian soldiers held prisoner and for both sides to begin removing heavy weapons and land mines from the border area.
The Royal Thai Army said a sergeant had lost his right foot after stepping on a land mine while on patrol Monday along the border in Sisaket province, while another soldier suffered a tightness in his chest from the impact of the blast. It said both soldiers were receiving treatment at a hospital.
Thai Defense Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit said the army is still investigating whether the mine was old or was newly laid. He added that Thailand will postpone the release of the captured Cambodian soldiers, initially scheduled for later this week.
The two sides said there has been some progress on arms removal but Thailand accuses Cambodia of obstructing the mine clearance process. Cambodia says it’s committed to all terms in the agreement, including demining, and urged Thailand to release its soldiers as soon as possible.
Thailand has accused Cambodia of laying new mines in violation of the truce, which the Cambodian government denies.
The ceasefire was initially mediated by Malaysia and U.S. President Donald Trump later threatened to withhold trade privileges unless both Cambodia and Thailand agreed on a truce and the deal was signed during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in October.
