Hundreds of Buddhist monks in Cambodia gather to praise ceasefire with Thailand and mourn the dead
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Hundreds of Buddhist monks in Cambodia on Friday held a religious ceremony to honor soldiers killed in recent border clashes with Thai forces and to pray for peace.
They marched from the country’s main religious school near the Royal Palace in the capital, Phnom Penh, to a nearby temple, where they were joined by nuns and laymen and women.
The monks chanted and prayed to honor the souls of the dead soldiers.
A board inside the temple displayed the photographs of more than 40 men in uniform. It wasn’t clear whether these images were of soldiers killed, or included those who were wounded and captured.
Cambodia has admitted only to the deaths of six of its troops in the fighting, which began late last month and continued for five days.
Dozens of people on both sides, including civilians, were killed in the fighting and over 260,000 displaced on both sides of the border.
A ceasefire that took effect on July 29 ended major fighting, though both sides have alleged violations of the truce and the underlying dispute over territorial claims has not been resolved.
Khem Sorn, the chief monk for Phnom Penh, said the main purpose of Friday’s ceremony was to show support to the government for working toward peace and ending the war with a ceasefire.
It was also intended to honor to the souls of the Cambodian soldiers and civilians who were killed, and to appeal to all Buddhist countries, especially Thailand, to live in peace with each other, he told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
“It means that we only want to live side-by-side with Thailand as a good neighbor, living with unity and peace with each other,” Khem Sorn said.
The recent fighting was triggered by a land mine explosion in disputed land along the border that wounded five Thai soldiers. That came just a week after a similar incident.
It was the latest eruption of hostilities in a decades-old dispute over ownership of several small pockets of territory along the 800-kilometer (500-mile) land border.
Under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to delay crucial trade talks, the two countries agreed to a ceasefire on July 28.
Talks in Malaysia on Thursday reaffirmed both sides’ commitment to the ceasefire deal but failed to secure the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers, who were captured in disputed circumstances after the truce went into effect. Thailand says it is treating the men in full compliance with international humanitarian law and will free them once “active hostilities” end.
The United States and China, which both played an active role in encouraging an end to the fighting, separately hailed Thursday’s reaffirmation of the ceasefire, and said they look forward to supporting the parties involved in securing the peace process.