Thailand accuses Cambodia of breaking recently signed ceasefire

Thailand’s military has accused Cambodia of violating a recently signed ceasefire agreement after weeks of deadly clashes that forced nearly a million people from their homes.

In a statement, the Thai military said more than 250 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were detected coming from the Cambodian side on Sunday evening.

The ceasefire came into effect at noon local time (0500 GMT) on Saturday. Both sides agreed to freeze the front lines where they currently are, prohibit reinforcements and allow civilians living in border areas to return as soon as possible.

This was seen as a breakthrough, coming after days of negotiations between the two countries, with diplomatic encouragement from China and the United States.

In a statement released Monday, the Royal Thai Army said Cambodia’s actions “constitute a provocation and a violation of measures aimed at reducing tensions,” adding that they were “incompatible” with the terms of the ceasefire.

He also said he “may have to reconsider” the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers detained in Thailand since July.

Thailand would be “obligated to act in accordance… [if] violations of agreements and national sovereignty continue,” he adds.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn described the incident as “a small problem related to flying drones seen on both sides along the border”, according to the AFP news agency.

It comes just hours after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hailed the “hard-won” ceasefire and US President Donald Trump praised the “swift and fair conclusion.”

The dispute between Thailand and Cambodia is not newdating back more than a century.

The latest tensions escalated earlier this year, after a group of Cambodian women sang patriotic songs at a contested temple.

A Cambodian soldier was killed during a clash in May. This plunged relations between the countries to their lowest level in more than a decade.

There were five days of intense fighting along the border, which left dozens of soldiers and civilians dead. Thousands more civilians have been displaced.

A fragile ceasefire agreement was reached in July and signed in October. It then collapsed earlier this month, when new clashes broke out.

Both sides blamed each other for the breakdown of the truce.