A Thai soldier was wounded this morning when a mortar round, allegedly fired by Cambodian troops, struck a hill-top base on Mount 469, in the Chong Bok area of Nam Yuen district in Ubon Ratchathani.
The Thai Second Army Region said in a press statement that shrapnel from the mortar round injured the right arm of Sgt. Maj. Pradchaya Pilachai, a platoon leader of the rapid deployment force.
His condition is not, however, life threatening and he was given a first-aid treatment before being transferred to Nam Yuen district hospital for further treatment.
Army officers are investigating the incident and will keep the public informed when there is any update, according to the statement.
The unprovoked attack by Cambodian forces is the first since Thailand and Cambodian signed a ceasefire on December 27, with a 72-hour monitoring period, after about three weeks of fierce fighting along the entire Thai-Cambodian border, from Ubon Ratchathani in the northeast to Trat province in the east.
Thailand deployed ground troops, naval and air forces in the campaign against Cambodian forces and succeeded in regaining control of about a dozen border areas, which had been seized by the Cambodian military and civilians over the past several decades.
Several border casinos and scam centres, which were used by Cambodian forces to store munitions and heavy weapons, were also destroyed by Thai air strikes and shelling.
