Thailand’s army has accused Cambodia of violating an hours-old truce, saying that sporadic clashes continued despite an agreement to Ceasefire and end the deadly fighting in the disputed border region between the two Southeast Asian countries. Thai troops have retaliated “appropriately” and in “self-defence”, Thailand‘s army spokesman, Winthai Suvaree, said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to Winthai, “At the time the agreement took effect, the Thai side detected that Cambodian forces had launched armed attacks into several areas within Thai territory.” He added, “This constitutes a deliberate violation of the agreement and a clear attempt to undermine mutual trust.” Winthai emphasized that Thailand is compelled to respond appropriately, exercising its legitimate right to self-defence.
The ceasefire agreement was reached after peace talks in Malaysia, where both Cambodia and Thailand agreed to an unconditional ceasefire starting at midnight on Monday to end the fighting in disputed zones along their 800km border. The clashes had killed at least 38 people in five days and displaced nearly 300,000 more.
Acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai played down the reported ceasefire violations, saying he had spoken with Cambodia’s defence minister ahead of scheduled talks between military commanders from both countries on Tuesday morning. “There is no escalation,” Phumtham told reporters. “Right now, things are calm,” he said.
Maly Socheata, a spokesperson for the Cambodian Ministry of National Defence, said in a briefing that there had been no fighting along the border since the agreement in Malaysia. The truce deal was set to see military commanders from both sides meet at 7 am local time on Tuesday, before a cross-border committee is convened in Cambodia to further ease tensions on August 4.
However, Tony Cheng, reporting from Surin province in Thailand, said the Thai military reported “a couple of clashes in several areas along the border.” “They did issue a statement saying that the Cambodian military was not respecting the ceasefire agreement. But for the most part, it does seem to be holding,” Cheng said.
In Cambodia’s Samraong city, 20km from the border with Thailand, an AFP journalist said the sound of blasts stopped in the 30 minutes leading up to midnight on Monday, with the lull continuing until dawn. “The front line has eased since the ceasefire at 12 midnight,” Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a Tuesday morning message on Facebook.
A joint statement from both countries on Monday – as well as Malaysia, which hosted the peace talks – said the ceasefire was “a vital first step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security.” The flare-up in cross-border fighting has been the deadliest since violence raged sporadically from 2008 to 2011 over disputed border territory.