Thailand, Cambodia Trade Blame as Clashes Spread on Disputed Border |
Battles fanned out across the Thai-Cambodian border on Tuesday as the warring neighbors traded accusations of firing into each other’s territory, casting new doubts on a ceasefire that President Donald Trump helped broker in July.
Trump claimed credit for a ceasefire on July 28 that ended five days of deadly fighting between the neighbors. The renewed clashes are the most serious breaches of the two nations' peace agreement, a signing that Trump presided over on October 26.
While both countries maintain good relations with the United States and China, Thailand is a major non-NATO ally of the U.S. while China is particularly close to Cambodia, which has offered China access to a naval base in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
The Thai military reported Cambodian firing over the border into Thai territory at eight locations along their 500-miles border and reported some damage to at least two homes but no casualties. Cambodia also reported Thai forces firing into Cambodia in several spots.
Clashes spread to eastern Thailand as its navy said Cambodian forces had been detected inside Thai territory in the coastal province of Trat and operations were launched to expel them. It did not provide details.
Cambodia’s defense ministry denied the accusation that its forces had fired first.
"The Thai military initiated the firing upon Cambodia,........