BANGKOK, Thailand: Thailand announced on Monday that it was suspending the implementation of a peace agreement with neighbouring Cambodia after a landmine explosion injured two Thai soldiers near the border.
The deal, overseen by US President Donald Trump, was meant to secure a lasting end to hostilities following border clashes in July that killed at least 43 people and displaced more than 300,000 civilians on both sides.
The Royal Thai Army said in a statement that the mine explosion in Sisaket province left one soldier with a severe leg injury, while pressure from the blast caused another to withstand chest pains.
Thai government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat said Bangkok would cease “the follow-up to the joint declaration”, meaning the accord with Cambodia inked in Kuala Lumpur in late October, months after the two sides had agreed a ceasefire.
The next steps planned as part of the agreement’s implementation included the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers detained in Thailand.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told a news conference that “we thought that the security threat had eased, but it has not actually decreased”.
Cambodia’s foreign ministry said in a statement it was “gravely concerned” by the Thai move.
Phnom Penh remained “committed to implementing the Joint Declaration”, it said.
The Southeast Asian neighbours have a dispute over parts of their border dating back more than a century, but July’s fighting was sparked by Thailand’s claims that Cambodia planted landmines that wounded its troops.
On Monday the Cambodian foreign ministry again denied allegations that its forces had been planting new landmines along the border.
Thailand and Cambodia agreed an initial truce in late July after intervention by Trump, as well as Chinese diplomats and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc.
The joint declaration signed in October said the two sides would organise mine clearing efforts along their border, withdraw heavy weapons and allow access to ceasefire monitor teams organised by ASEAN.
Following the signing, Cambodia’s defence ministry said it was withdrawing heavy weapons from its border with Thailand.
The truce has generally held since July 29.
But the countries have traded allegations of ceasefire breaches, and analysts say a comprehensive peace pact adjudicating the territorial dispute at the core of the conflict remains elusive.
