Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
Alleged ceasefire violations were reported this week along the Cambodia-Thailand border days after the two countries’ prime ministers met to preserve a fragile truce following deadly border clashes last year.
Cambodia on Thursday denied allegations reported in Thai media that its forces fired grenades from M79 launchers near the Thai border in Preah Vihear province, calling the claims baseless, while Thailand’s defense minister reportedly ordered troops to maintain border positions.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defense said the accusations were unsupported and warned such reports could undermine stability along the border. It said it had submitted a protest letter to Thailand’s Joint Information Center.
A day earlier, Thai media also reported gunfire near O’Smach, a border town along the Oddar Meanchey-Surin border associated with online scam operations and occupied by Thai forces after clashes in December.
Video posted online by a British pro-Cambodia content creator appeared to capture gunfire in the background while he was filming in the area.
Thai media later cited the Thai army as saying Cambodian troops fired 11 shots due to “indiscipline” rather than as part of a military operation. Cambodia rejected the accusation.
There were no reports of renewed fighting, according to local media and official statements.
Cambodia also accused Thai forces on Thursday of detonating unexploded ordnance without prior notice during a visit by a ceasefire observer team of regional military attaches to Preah Vihear Temple. It said it lodged a formal protest over the matter.
Thai Defense Ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri and Cambodian Defense Ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The observer team, known as AOT and made up of military attaches from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has not issued public statements since being deployed last year.
More than 100 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced during fighting between the neighbors in July and December before the two sides agreed to ceasefires brokered first by the United States and later through bilateral talks.
The incidents came less than a week after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet met Thai counterpart Anutin Charnvirakul on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in the Philippines, where the leaders agreed on confidence-building measures and further talks between foreign ministers aimed at preserving the truce.
Hun Manet did not address the recent allegations during a Friday event for veterans, but said Cambodia would always prioritize negotiations to avoid renewed conflict.
“If the door is not completely closed, even if it is only 1% open, it is necessary to use all possibilities to reach a peaceful solution rather than fighting each other,” he said.
