Asean to conduct on-site probe of landmine incident that derailed Thai-Cambodian truce, Thailand says

BANGKOK – A landmine explosion on the contested Thai-Cambodian border that has threatened to derail a US-brokered truce was scheduled to be investigated by Asean observers on Nov 14, Thailand said, a day after Malaysia’s Foreign Minister said a regional team had reported that mines found at the site of the incident were new.

Thailand has

suspended the ceasefire deal

and demanded an apology from Cambodia after accusing it of laying fresh PMN-2 landmines, one of which

maimed a Thai soldier

on Nov 10 in the Kantharalak district of Thailand’s Sisaket province, which is opposite Cambodia’s province of Preah Vihear.

Cambodia has denied the charge and urged Bangkok to adhere to the truce agreement signed in Malaysia in October. The truce set up an observer team, made up of military officials from Asean, to ensure that Thailand and Cambodia follow through and de-escalate tensions.

On Nov 13, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Asean observers had reported that the landmines at the site were new, state news agency Bernama reported. “I just got off the phone with the Thai Foreign Minister. My hope is for both sides to calm down and to continue the peace talks,” he was quoted as saying.

Shots across the border

Another team of observers was scheduled on Nov 14 to conduct an on-site investigation at a disputed border area where

cross-border shooting occurred on

Nov 11

, when at least one person in Cambodia was killed and three others injured. Cambodia said Thai troops had opened fire first, while the Thai military said Cambodia initially fired shots and Thai soldiers fired warning shots in response.

The border tensions erupted into five days of fighting in July with at least 48 people killed and an estimated 300,000 others temporarily displaced, before a ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is the current chair of Asean.

Landmine blasts along disputed border areas were among the catalysts for the clashes, with at least seven Thai soldiers severely injured in mine-related incidents since July 16.

Some of these mines were likely newly laid, Reuters reported in October, based on expert analysis of material shared by Thailand’s military.

The South-east Asian neighbours have contested sovereignty for over a century over undemarcated points along their 817km-long land border, first mapped in 1907 by France when it ruled Cambodia as a colony. REUTERS