Thailand accuses Cambodia of planting landmines after soldier injured

A Thai soldier has been seriously injured by a landmine near the Cambodian border, days after both countries agreed to a ceasefire following last month’s deadly border clashes.

The soldier’s left ankle was badly damaged on Tuesday after he stepped on the device while patrolling about 1km (0.6 miles) from the Ta Moan Thom Temple in Thailand’s Surin province, the army said. He is receiving treatment in hospital.

Thai army spokesperson Major General Winthai Suvaree said the incident proved Cambodia had breached the truce and violated international agreements, including the Ottawa Convention banning landmines.

“Cambodia continues to covertly plant landmines while the Thai army has consistently adhered to peaceful approaches and has not been the initiating party,” he said.

The statement warned that if violations continued, Thailand might “exercise the right of self-defence under international law principles to resolve situations that cause Thailand to continuously lose personnel due to violations of ceasefire agreements and sovereignty encroachments by Cambodian military forces”.

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

“Cambodia, as a proud and responsible State Party to the Ottawa Convention, maintains an absolute and uncompromising position: we have never used, produced, or deployed new landmines under any circumstances, and we strictly and fully honour our obligations under international law,” the Cambodian Ministry of National Defence said in a social media post.

This is the fourth landmine incident in recent weeks involving Thai soldiers along the two Southeast Asian neighbours’ disputed border. On Saturday, three soldiers were injured in a blast between Thailand’s Sisaket province and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province.

Two earlier incidents on July 16 and 23 prompted a downgrade in diplomatic relations and triggered five days of fighting that erupted on July 24.

Those battles, the worst between the neighbours in more than a decade, saw exchanges of artillery fire and air strikes that killed at least 43 people and displaced more than 300,000 on both sides.

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