Cambodia denies using and laying new landmines along Thailand border

“As a nation which is a victim of landmines and considers mines as the nation’s enemy, we absolutely deny this baseless claim,” senior minister Ly Thuch, First Vice President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, said during a news conference in Phnom Penh.

According to the Thai army, three Thai soldiers were injured by a landmine near the Cambodian border on August 9, days after the Southeast Asian neighbours agreed to a detailed ceasefire halting last month's deadly five-day conflict.

One soldier lost a foot and two were injured after one of them stepped on a landmine while patrolling an area between Thailand's Sisaket and Cambodia's Preah Vihear provinces, the army said in a statement earlier in the month.

Thailand said the incident occurred in an area of its territory recently cleared of landmines. Thailand's foreign ministry said Bangkok would lodge a complaint against Cambodia for violating a treaty, to which both are signatories, that bans the use of landmines and for infringing Thai sovereignty.

Cambodia rejected Thailand's accusation, saying that it had not freshly planted landmines.

Ly Thuch on Monday urged Thai soldiers to avoid areas that have not been cleared of landmines, adding that Cambodia plans to demine these areas in the future when “both countries can agree on clear boundaries.”

The latest clashes that started on July 24 were the worst fighting between the countries in more than a decade, and involved exchanges of artillery fire and jet fighter sorties that killed at least 43 and left over 300,000 people displaced on both sides.

The fragile ceasefire has been holding since Thailand and Cambodia agreed to allow observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to inspect disputed border areas, ensuring that hostilities do not resume.