Cambodia blames ‘local’ troops for ceasefire breaches

Cambodia has blamed insubordinate local soldiers for violating the ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia by their provocative actions, including flying drones along the shared border, said Thai acting Defence Minister Gen Nattaphon Nakpanich yesterday in Kuala Lumpur.

The general was speaking at a news briefing after co-chairing the special General Border Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur, which was aimed at easing border tensions.

Both countries reached a ceasefire agreement on July 28, with the help of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in his role as the current ASEAN chair.

The truce followed the bloodiest clashes in recent history five days earlier, which resulted in many casualties, most of whom were Thai civilians, and damage to hospitals and schools.

In the three days following the ceasefire taking effect, at midnight on July 28th, a number provocations occurred along the border, including mysterious drone flights and sporadic gunfire.

Gen Nattaphon stated that, after the ceasefire, Cambodia had continued to deploy additional troops to the area and was operating unmanned aerial vehicles to conduct surveillance over Thai territory.

Bangkok lodged several protests against the violations, calling on Phnom Penh to respect the truce.

“We were informed by a high-level Cambodian delegate at the meeting that the ceasefire violations were the result of arbitrary actions by local units in the area,” Nattaphon said.

In response, Thailand has exercised utmost restraint and responded only in self-defense, he added.

During the meeting, the Thai delegation raised Cambodia’s planting new landmines in the border area, but Cambodia’s defence minister, Tea Seiha, declined to respond, saying the matter was not the subject of the meeting, Nattaphon said.