Thai security forces use rubber bullets and tear gas in border melee with Cambodian protesters

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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Thai security forces clashed with protesters from Cambodia on Wednesday in a disputed border area , threatening a fragile truce reached in July after five days of armed combat.

Official statements from Cambodia said 28 people were injured over the course of several hours near what they called Prey Chan village in Banteay Meanchey province. Thai authorities referred to the same area as Ban Nong Ya Kaeo in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province.

No deaths were reported. Thai security forces used non-lethal weapons while Cambodian protesters, who appeared to be civilians, threw rocks and other objects.

Thai Army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree described the situation as a Cambodian mob encroaching on Thai territory, obstructing operations and destroying official property. He said Thai authorities regarded the incident as a provocation and an intentional violation of the ceasefire agreement.

In late July, the two countries engaged in five days of combat that killed dozens of people and displaced more than 260,000. The two countries agreed on a ceasefire only after mediation fostered by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless they agreed on a truce.

Tensions remain high after the ceasefire, especially since Thai soldiers have been wounded by land mines while patrolling the no-man’s land between the two countries. Thailand charges that the mines are newly planted in violation of the ceasefire, an accusation vehemently denied by Cambodia.

Thai security forces “used tear gas against Cambodian civilians in an attempt to surround land that Cambodians have long lived on and cultivated,” said a Cambodian government statement issued Wednesday.

It said local Cambodians gathered to remove barbed wire that Thais were laying down, and that “Thai authorities fired live ammunition, rubber bullets, and smoke bombs at them, while also deploying high-frequency sound devices that can damage the eardrum and brain.” The statement further asserted that other “violent measures” were used, resulting in at least 28 people, including monks, fainting and sustaining serious and minor injuries.

A Thai army statement posted online said approximately 200 people came from the Cambodian side “to protest the Thai side’s actions during the deployment of barriers and concertina wire to enhance security along the Thai-Cambodian border.”

It said Thai officials explained to the crowd what they were doing, but a melee broke out and they had to use tear gas and rubber bullets to restore order, with the tear gas temporarily causing both sides to step back.

When the Thai authorities resumed setting up their barrier, violence broke out again and security forces employed tear gas, rubber bullets, and LRADs -- long-range acoustic devices that emit painfully loud high-pitched sounds -- to quell the unrest, they said.

After 5 p.m., the Cambodians began to retreat, shouting at the Thai forces and causing injuries by throwing rocks and sticks and shooting slingshots, said the Thai army statement, adding that five Thai soldiers were injured.

Thai Army spokesperson Winthai said the incident followed a similar confrontation on Tuesday, when another large crowd of Cambodians, many wielding wooden sticks and slingshots, also sought to pull down barbed wire and were restrained by the use of tear gas and rubber bullets.

The two nations’ competing territorial claims stem largely from a 1907 map drawn when Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand has argued is inaccurate.

The International Court of Justice in 1962 awarded sovereignty to Cambodia over an area that included the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which still riles many Thais.

The court has since reaffirmed its judgement. In June, Cambodia proposed returning to the international court to sort out the border in the disputed areas, a proposal Thailand firmly rejected.

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Peck reported from Bangkok.