Reuters. The situation at Thailand's border with Cambodia remains delicate and must be addressed with “caution and prudence” and with measures in line with international law, Thailand's acting premier said on Thursday (July 24).
Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai was speaking after the militaries of both countries said a clash had taken place early on Thursday, accusing each other of opening fire after weeks of simmering tension and diplomatic spats.
For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817 km (508 miles) land border, which has led to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a weeklong exchange of artillery in 2011.
Tensions were reignited in May following the killing of a Cambodian soldier during a brief exchange of gunfire, which escalated into a full-blown diplomatic crisis and now has triggered armed clashes.
Cambodia has many landmines left over from its civil war decades ago, numbering in the millions according to de-mining groups. But Thailand maintains landmines have been placed at the border area recently, which Cambodia has described as baseless allegations.
