The Cambodian Ministry of National Defence has denied Thai media reports that Cambodian forces fired 40mm grenades near a Thai military base. The ministry characterised the publication of the story as “an attempt to create tension along the border”.
Ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata noted that the Thai military had conceded that the report was false.
She quoted the article, which stated: “Urgent! The 2nd Army Region discovered that the other side fired 40mm grenades, which landed near the Phlan Hin Pet Kon military base”.
“We completely reject the aforementioned Thai media reports. We affirm that this is fabricated fake news, entirely contrary to the truth, intended to mislead public opinion and create tension along the Cambodia-Thailand border,” she said.
She explained that Cambodia’s 4th Military Region confirmed that its coordination team had been in touch with their counterparts from Thailand’s 2nd Army Region to verify the facts. Both sides confirmed that the situation reported by the Thai media did not actually occur.
Socheata reiterated that Cambodia remains committed to implementing the December 27 Joint Statement of the 3rd Special Meeting of the Cambodia-Thailand General Border Committee (GBC), as well as the Kuala Lumpur Peace Agreement. These agreements include provisions to combat fake news in order to facilitate a rapid return to normalcy, peace, stability and long-term safety along the border.
She urged Cambodian media outlets to not share the fake news published by the Thai media.
