BANGKOK: Thailand's military said its troops exchanged fire with Cambodian forces along their border on Tuesday, accusing its neighbour of violating a December truce, while Phnom Penh denied the use of "any weapons". The Southeast Asian nations' decades-long border dispute erupted into several rounds of clashes last year, killing dozens of people and displacing more than a million in July and December.
Thailand's military said Cambodian forces "fired a single 40 mm grenade round" near a Thai patrol in the border province of Sisaket on Tuesday, prompting return fire, according to a statement. Thai army spokesman Winthai Suvaree accused Cambodia of violating their ceasefire deal, which ended three weeks of clashes.
Cambodia's Information Minister Neth Pheaktra said the allegation were "entirely false" and designed to "mislead public opinion and provoke tension". "Following the incident, Thai forces responded by firing an M79 (grenade launcher) in the direction from which the shot originated... as a warning and for self-defence," it added. The Thai army, citing a preliminary assessment, said the "incident may have resulted from a rotation of Cambodian troops, with new personnel lacking familiarity with regulations and command control". — AFP
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