Khaberni - Thailand confirmed on Saturday that it will continue its military operations against Cambodia, despite US President Donald Trump announcing that the two countries had reached an agreement to cease fighting after he made phone calls to both.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a Facebook post, "Thailand will continue its military operations until we eliminate any harm or threat to our land and people."
The joint media center in Bangkok confirmed that the Thai forces "responded" to Cambodian military targets early in the morning.
Cambodia said that Thailand continued to shell targets across their disputed border on Saturday morning, hours after Trump mediated a ceasefire.
The Cambodian Ministry of Information stated, "The Thai forces have not stopped shelling yet, and are still continuing."
The Thai military responded with accusations against Cambodia of "repeated violations of international rules" by targeting civilian sites and planting landmines.
Following phone calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet last night, Trump announced that Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to "cease all firing operations" starting from Friday.
However, neither leader referred to the agreement in their statements after the call, and Anutin said that there is no ceasefire. When asked about Trump's statement, the Thai Foreign Ministry referred journalists to his statement.
In a statement published Saturday on Facebook, Manet referred to his call with Trump and a previous discussion with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, saying Cambodia is still seeking a peaceful resolution to the disputes in line with a previous agreement signed in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in October.
However, Manet advised the United States and Malaysia to use their intelligence capabilities "to verify which side started the shooting first" in the latest round of fighting.
Since Monday, Cambodia and Thailand have been exchanging rocket and artillery fire at several points along their disputed border, which spans 817 kilometers, in some of the fiercest fighting since the clashes that lasted five days in July, which were halted by Trump through phone calls with the leaders.
Trump was keen to intervene again to salvage that truce, which was expanded in October when he met with the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia in Malaysia. The two sides agreed on a mechanism for the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons and the release of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war.
However, Thailand suspended this agreement last month after a Thai soldier was severely wounded in the latest series of incidents involving landmines that Bangkok says were recently planted by Cambodia. Cambodia denies these claims.
