Thai and Cambodian military commanders agreed to a cease—fire on Thursday after seven days of artillery duels killed 15 people, Cambodia said. Thailand did not immediately confirm it, but the contested border was quiet most of the day.
Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said regional commanders from both Southeast Asian nations reached the deal after a 40—minute meeting at the border, agreeing to reopen all checkpoints closed during the fighting. “The news is a good news for every side,” Mr. Siphan said.
Thai officials could not be reached for comment. The last heard artillery fire boomed across the frontier earlier in the morning and one rocket killed a Thai soldier, bringing the total dead in one week to 15.
The border dispute has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes and stirred nationalist sentiment on both sides. But analysts say domestic politics may also be fuelling the conflict, especially in Thailand, where the military that staged a coup in 2006 could be flexing its muscles ahead of elections due in June or July.
Speaking earlier in Cambodia, field commander Col. Suos Sothea said Thursday’s fighting had centred again around the ruins of two crumbling stone temples from the Khmer Empire at Ta Moan and Ta Krabey, which have been caught in crossfire since last Friday.
The body of a Thai soldier who died in one rocket attack on Thursday was loaded into a helicopter at a hospital in Phanom Dongrak, which was busy with wounded Thai soldiers arriving from the front.
On Wednesday, Cambodian leader Hun Sen accused Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of loving war and provoking the conflict, but said he still wants to talk peace with him at an upcoming regional meeting in Indonesia.
Cambodia employed truck—mounted rocket launchers for the first time on Tuesday, in what Mr. Hun Sen said was retaliation for Thailand’s use of heavy weapons.
Mr. Abhisit, meanwhile, said his government is not willing to have a meeting of the two countries’ defence ministers unless there is a cease—fire first.
“If they want to talk, the easiest way is to stop the firing,” Mr. Abhisit told Parliament after visiting injured civilians in Surin province in the northeast.
The conflict involves small swaths of land along the border that have been disputed for more than half a century. Fierce clashes have broken out several times since 2008, when Cambodia’s 11th—century Preah Vihear temple was given U.N. World Heritage status over Thailand’s objections.
Talks with Cambodia have apparently become a divisive issue within the Thai government, with the military dragging its feet while Mr. Abhisit is more conciliatory.
The Thai army has already stymied a plan to station Indonesian military observers along the border. Mr. Hun Sen said on Wednesday that Cambodia would welcome them on its side of the border regardless of any delays by Thailand.
Indonesia, which currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, offered to provide the observers after four days of border fighting in February.
