JAKARTA - A Thai soldier was injured in a landmine near the Cambodian border on Tuesday. This incident occurred days after the two neighboring Southeast Asian countries agreed a ceasefire following a deadly conflict five days ago.
The soldier's left ankle was seriously injured when he stepped on mine while patrolling the routine border route about 1 km (half a mile) from the Ta Moan Thom temple in the province of Surin, Thailand, the military said.
The soldier is being treated at the hospital.
"This incident is clear evidence Cambodia has violated ceasefires and international agreements such as the Ottawa Convention which prohibits landmines," said Thai military spokesman Major General Winthai Suvaree, in a statement reported by Reuters on Tuesday, August 12.
Cambodia continues to secretly plant landmines, while the Thai military consistently adheres to a peaceful approach and is not the party that started it, the statement said.
"If circumstances become urgent, it may be necessary to exercise self-defense rights based on international legal principles to resolve situations that cause Thailand to continue to lose personnel due to violations of ceasefire agreements and violations of sovereignty by Cambodian military forces," the military said.
Cambodia also rejected Thailand's accusations.
"Camboja, as the State of the Proud and Responsible Ottawa Convention, maintains an absolute and uncompromising position: we have never used, produced, or deployed new landmines under any circumstances, and we firmly and fully respect our obligations based on international law," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.
This is the fourth time in weeks that Thai soldiers have been injured by mines while patrolling along the border. On Saturday, three soldiers were injured by landmines in the area between the Sustainable Province in Thailand and preah Vihear Province in Cambodia.
Two previous incidents led to a decline in diplomatic relations and sparked clashes.
Bangkok accused Cambodia of planting landmines on the Thai side of a disputed border that injured soldiers on July 16 and July 23.
Thailand and Cambodia have been at loggerheads for decades over unbounded points along their 817 km (508 miles) land border, with the ownership of the ancient Hindu temples Ta Moan Thom and 11th-century Preah Vihear at the heart of the dispute.
The latest clashes that began on July 24 were the worst fighting between the two countries in more than a decade, and involved artillery fire and fighter jet attacks that killed 43 people and displaced more than 300,000 people from both sides.
This fragile ceasefire has been going on since Thailand and Cambodia agreed last week to allow observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to inspect disputed border areas, ensuring hostilities do not repeat themselves.
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