Thailand strongly condemns Cambodia over latest landmine blast

The Thai Foreign Ministry has issued a statement strongly condemning Cambodia, following a landmine detonation at the Thai-Cambodian border in Si Sa Ket province today, which injured three soldiers, one of them seriously.

The Foreign Ministry said in the statement that the Thai soldiers were patrolling in an area from which landmines had already been cleared and that the one which detonated must have been laid recently, in a clear and serious violation of international law.

“This is the third time within a month that Thai troops have been injured by landmines,” according to the statement.

“The Thai government wishes to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the use of anti-personnel landmines, which is a violation of Thai territorial sovereignty, the basic principles of international law, as stipulated in the United Nations Charter, and international humanitarian laws,” the statement continued.

The Thai Foreign Ministry also said that Cambodia has violated its commitments under the Ottawa Convention and that it will submit a protest.

Cambodia’s acts constitute a serious obstacle to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, reached at the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting in Kuala Lumpur on August 7th, said the ministry, as it called on Cambodia to cease all actions in violation of the Ottawa Convention immediately and, for humanitarian reasons, to cooperate in the clearing of all landmines from the entire shared border area.

At the GBC meeting, Cambodia rejected Thailand’s proposals for cooperation in clearing the landmines and in dealing with scam operations in Cambodia.