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Hundreds of families from Prey Chan, a disputed village along Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey border, were evacuated about 30 km away after Cambodia and Thailand accused each other of opening fire on Wednesday, killing one Cambodian civilian and wounding three others, a provincial spokesperson said Thursday.
The evacuees were moved to a pagoda in O’Chrov district, said provincial spokesperson Norng Vuthy, adding that the border remained calm as of Thursday morning.
Vuthy did not identify the person killed but said authorities were trying to locate his family. He added that the man had recently moved to Prey Chan, which Thailand claims as part of its Ban Nong Ya Kaew village in Sa Kaeo province, rather than being a longtime resident.
The three wounded villagers, some of whom underwent surgery, are in stable condition and no longer critical, according to Banteay Meanchey Health Department Director Ly Chansangvet. They were being transferred to Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh for further treatment.
An ASEAN Observer Team, established to monitor compliance with a ceasefire agreement reached after a deadly five-day border conflict between the neighbors in July, visited the wounded Cambodians on Thursday, according to the National Defense Ministry.
Cambodian officials and villagers said Thai troops opened fire first on Wednesday afternoon, claiming they directly targeted civilians in what they called an “inhumane and brutal attack.”
The Thai army denied targeting or injuring civilians, with a spokesperson telling Reuters that Cambodian soldiers first fired shots into Thailand before Thai forces returned fire “following rules of engagement” in an exchange that lasted about 10 minutes.
Thailand reported no casualties.
The incident marks the latest flare-up threatening a U.S.-brokered truce between the countries, which Thailand suspended Tuesday after accusing Cambodia of laying fresh landmines that maimed Thai soldiers on Monday. Phnom Penh says the injuries were caused by old mines left from its civil war.
Prey Chan and a nearby village have also been flashpoints since the July conflict, after Thai forces began installing razor wire barriers in the area. Cambodian residents, some of whom have lived in the area for decades, have been barred from their homes and ordered to vacate by Thai authorities.
Earlier clashes with Thai troops near the barricades this year also left residents injured by non-lethal ammunition.
