BANGKOK - Thailand has suspended the implementation of a United States-brokered peace agreement with neighbouring Cambodia after a landmine blast near their border injured two of its soldiers.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said after Monday’s incident that all action set to be carried out under the truce will be halted until Thailand’s demands, which remain unspecified, are met.
“The hostility towards our national security has not decreased as we thought it would,” Anutin asserted. He did not elaborate on what Thailand’s demands were.
There was no immediate response from the Cambodian government.
Simmering
Thailand and Cambodia signed a ceasefire on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia last month after territorial disputes between the two Southeast Asian countries led to five days of border clashes in July.
Those hostilities killed at least 43 people and displaced more than 300,000 civilians living along the border.
The Thai army said in a statement that Monday’s mine explosion in Sisaket province injured two soldiers.
Thai Defence Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit said the army is still investigating whether the mine was newly laid.
Thailand has previously accused Cambodia of laying new mines in violation of the truce, a charge that the Cambodian government denies.
Similar landmine explosions have occurred both before and since the deal, and tension has simmered.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Thailand should release 18 Cambodian soldiers, and both sides must begin removing heavy weapons and land mines from the border.
Natthaphon said Thailand will postpone the release of the Cambodian soldiers, initially scheduled for this week.
The two sides have reported some progress on arms removal, but Thailand has accused Cambodia of obstructing mine clearance.
Cambodia said it’s committed to all terms of the truce and urged Thailand to release its soldiers as soon as possible.
Complex issues
Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a truce mediated by Malaysia in July after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs.
The dispute is among eight conflicts that Trump has taken credit for resolving, although critics have noted that the peace deals he has helped to initiate often implant swift and simplistic ceasefires, leaving complex issues behind the conflicts unresolved and likely to reignite hostilities.
While the Thai-Cambodian truce has generally held since July 29, both countries have traded allegations of ceasefire breaches.
Analysts said a more comprehensive peace pact adjudicating the century-long territorial dispute at the core of the conflict is needed. I aje
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