Cambodia evacuates hundreds after villager’s death on disputed Thai Border; Trump-Brokered peace deal collapses
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Cambodia evacuates hundreds after villager’s death on disputed Thai Border; Trump-Brokered peace deal collapses")
A Cambodian soldier transporting local villagers on a motorcycle after Cambodia and Thailand traded accusations of fresh clashes along their border in Banteay Meanchey province. Photograph: (AFP)
The Trump-brokered peace deal collapsed this week after a Thai soldier lost a leg in a landmine explosion along the Cambodia border.
Cambodia on Thursday (Nov 13) evacuated hundreds of people from a village near its disputed border with Thailand. The development comes a day after a villager was reportedly killed as tensions flared up between neighbours, threatening the collapse of a peace deal brokered by the United States in July. Both countries accused each other of opening fire along the disputed part of their border.
The shooting on Wednesday, which claimed a villager's life, took place two days after a Thai soldier lost a foot on Monday (Nov 10) to a land mine while patrolling another area of the border. Accusing Cambodia of laying fresh landmines, the Thai foreign ministry demanded an apology from Cambodia.
On Tuesday, Thailand declared that it was suspending an enhanced ceasefire agreement that the two nations signed in the presence of United States President Donald Trump.
Denying the charges, Cambodia urged Thailand to abide by the agreed-upon October deal, which was built on the initial ceasefire negotiation held by Trump to end the day's fighting in July.
In July, fighting erupted between Thai and Cambodian troops over five days, with 43 people killed and 300,000 displaced in the worst clashes along the border in a decade. Donald Trump oversaw the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the two nations in Malaysia this October, after the US president previously threatened to withhold trade privileges from the two countries unless they stopped fighting.
Trending Stories
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
The border dispute dates back centuries, originating from maps drawn when Cambodia was under French colonial rule and which Thailand says are inaccurate. A scattering of temples along the border is claimed by both sides.
The ownership of the Preah Vihear Temple and surrounding areas became a major cause of friction between the two countries. Tensions have escalated over territorial claims, especially after the UNESCO designation of the temple in 2008. Periodic clashes, including skirmishes and the death of villagers, have led to diplomatic and military standoffs.
