Thailand demands Cambodia be 1st to announce ceasefire

ISTANBUL

Thailand said on Tuesday that Cambodia must be the first to announce a ceasefire to halt deadly border clashes that have killed at least 52 people on both sides, as tensions continued despite previous claims that fighting would stop.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maratee Nalita Andamo said any ceasefire must meet specific conditions and be credible, according to public broadcaster Thai PBS.

“It is incumbent on Cambodia to initiate a ceasefire since it was the one that violated Thai territory,” she added.

Thailand also wants Cambodia to “sincerely cooperate in demining efforts on the border,” Andamo said, adding that these conditions must be fulfilled “for the border fighting to stop.”

Thailand has accused Cambodia of laying new landmines along the frontier, a claim Phnom Penh has denied.

Cambodia on Monday urged the Convention on Cluster Munitions to condemn Thailand’s “use of cluster munitions in civilian areas and uphold international humanitarian law,” according to a statement from the Cambodian Ministry of Information issued Tuesday.

While Thailand is not a state party to the convention, Cambodia said it “respectfully calls upon the president of the CCM and the wider Convention family to condemn the use of cluster munitions in civilian areas, highlight the catastrophic humanitarian consequences, and advocate for the strict adherence to international humanitarian law by all actors.”

According to the Thai daily Khaosod, two more Thai soldiers were killed during the conflict on Tuesday evening, bringing the total number of Thai soldiers killed to 19.

Additionally, 16 Thai civilians were killed during the conflict.

Cambodia’s Interior Ministry said 17 Cambodian civilians were killed and 77 others injured, according to state-run Agence Kampuchea Presse.

Separately, a curfew imposed in Thailand’s Trat province was lifted after the situation was “brought under control,” Royal Thai Navy assistant spokesperson Napassakorn Tipso said, according to Thai daily The Nation.

The clashes have continued despite US President Donald Trump saying on Friday that the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to halt renewed fighting.

The two countries signed a peace agreement in October in Kuala Lumpur in the presence of Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, but it was later suspended after Thai soldiers were seriously injured in a landmine explosion in a border province.

Thai authorities said around 18 Cambodian soldiers remain in Thai custody following incidents over the past five months.

Thailand and Cambodia have a long-running border dispute that has repeatedly erupted into violence, including clashes in July in which at least 48 people were killed.