Trump-brokered Thailand-Cambodia peace deal suspended after landmine blast

Thailand on Monday suspended the implementation of a peace agreement with Cambodia that was brokered by US President Donald Trump, according to AFP.

The announcement followed a landmine blast that injured two Thai soldiers in the contested border area of neighbouring countries.

In July, Thailand and Cambodia had fought a war that killed at least 43 people and displaced more than 300,000 people on both the sides. The fighting erupted followed monthslong tensions and involved airstrikes, rockets, artillery, and fighting on the ground.

Last month, Trump got Thai and Cambodian leaders together and presided over the signing of a peace deal in Malaysia. He hailed it as a diplomatic achievement. But that deal —already in suspension— now appears to be falling apart.

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Thailand says ’threat has not decreased’ despite peace deal

In a statement, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that “we thought that the security threat had eased, but it has not actually decreased”, as per AFP.

Separately, the Royal Thai Army said that the mine explosion in Sisaket province left one soldier with a severe leg injury and injured another.

The Thai government added that it will cease “the follow-up to the joint declaration”. As per the deal, the next phase —now in suspension— will have included the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers detained in Thailand.

On its part, Cambodia did not respond to the explosion but said on Monday that it had an “unwavering commitment” to peace.

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For decades, the Thai-Cambodian relationship has been tense over a disputed border. The two countries are locked in a decadeslong dispute over the trijunction of Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos called the ‘Emerald Triangle’, which has several cultural sites that are of high strategic and symbolic value that both sides lay claim to, such as the Prasat Ta Muen Thom temple. In May, before the broader conflict, the two sides had clashed near the temple.