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Cambodian officials said Thai troops opened fire on civilians in a disputed village along the Banteay Meanchey border Wednesday evening, killing one and wounding at least three.
The Thai army quickly denied targeting or injuring civilians, saying the gunfire came only from Cambodian forces and that its troops did not return fire.
Cambodia’s National Defense Ministry condemned the reported shooting as an “inhumane and brutal attack against Cambodian civilians” that “clearly violated” the terms of an extended truce signed between the two countries, which Bangkok suspended earlier this week.
“They shot at people living in a tent, now they [authorities] are sending them to the district referral hospital,” Norng Vuthy, a spokesperson for Banteay Meancheay, told CamboJA News shortly after the incident.
Vuthy confirmed one death and said authorities are evacuating people from the area.
Videos shared by Information Minister Neth Pheaktra appear to show injured individuals being transported by police on motorbikes. The minister said the footage was filmed in Prey Chan village, which Cambodian claims as part of Banteay Meanchey province, on Wednesday in the aftermath of the shooting.
Prey Chan and a nearby village have been flashpoints in border tensions after Thai forces resurrected razor wire barriers in the villages following the end of a five-day border conflict in July. Cambodian residents, some of whom have lived in the area for decades, have been barred from their homes and ordered to vacate. Earlier clashes near the barricades this year also left residents injured by non-lethal ammunition.
The incident comes after Thailand suspended an expanded ceasefire agreement on Monday, accusing Cambodia of laying fresh landmines near the Preah Vihear-Sisaket border that injured several Thai troops. Phnom Penh says the injuries were caused by old mines left from its civil war.
The extended truce was signed during last month’s ASEAN summit in Malaysia and overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who helped broker the initial agreement.
Before the shooting in Prey Chan, Bangkok also demanded an apology from Cambodia over the landmine incident.
Hul Malis, a Prey Chan resident who has been fenced off from her home by Thai barricades for more than three months, claimed she witnessed Thai troops fire on civilians without provocation.
“Some villagers were sleeping while others were cooking when Thai soldiers suddenly opened fire,” she said.
