Cambodia evacuates a village on disputed border with Thailand as tensions rise

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia on Thursday evacuated hundreds of people from a village along its disputed border with Thailand, a day after one of its residents was reported killed when shooting between the two nations broke out there.

Wednesday’s shooting occurred two days after a Thai soldier lost a foot to a land mine while patrolling another area of the border. Thailand blamed Cambodia for the blast and announced it was suspending honoring the terms of a ceasefire partly brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Territorial disputes over exactly where the border lies between the Southeast Asian neighbors led to five days of armed conflict in late July that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians. But tensions remained high. Many terms of a more detailed truce agreement signed last month have not yet been implemented.

A Cambodian man identified as Dy Nai was reportedly killed in shooting Wednesday, while three other people were wounded.

About 250 families from Prey Chan village in Cambodia’s northwestern province of Banteay Meanchey, where the shooting took place, were evacuated to a Buddhist temple about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border, said Ly Sovannarith, the provincial vice governor.

The same village was the site of a violent but not lethal confrontation in September between Thai security personnel and Cambodian villagers.

The Cambodian Defense Ministry on Thursday led members of a team assigned to monitor the ceasefire at the border. The observer team included officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Wednesday called for an independent investigation into the incident to bring justice to those affected by the shooting.

The ceasefire appeared to be breaking down after the land mine explosion earlier this week. Thailand accused Cambodia of laying new mines in violation of the truce, which Cambodia denied. Thailand said it would pause implementation of the agreement indefinitely. It also demanded that Cambodia apologize, conduct a thorough investigation and implement prevent such incidents in the future.

Hun Manet said the shooting occurred after Thai forces engaged in “numerous provocative actions for many days with the objective of instigating confrontations.” He added that Cambodia would still honor the ceasefire terms.

The Thai army alleged that Cambodian soldiers fired into a district in Thailand’s eastern province of Sa Kaeo, and that the Thai side “fired warning shots in response.”

“Cambodia’s accusations that Thailand initiated fire, provoked conflict, and violated the ceasefire are entirely false. Cambodia’s firing from a civilian area as cover constitutes using human shields, violating humanitarian principles and demonstrating complete disregard for Cambodian civilian lives.” army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree said in a statement Wednesday.

Thailand and Cambodia have a history of enmity going back centuries, when they were warring empires. Their competing territorial claims stem largely from a 1907 map drawn when Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand has argued is inaccurate.

The International Court of Justice in 1962 awarded sovereignty to Cambodia over an area that included the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which still rankles many Thais.

The October truce agreement does not spell out a path to resolve the underlying basis of the dispute.

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Jintamas Saksornchai reported from Bangkok