KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has urged Thailand and Cambodia to exercise maximum restraint, maintain open channels of communication and make full use of the mechanisms in place following reports of armed clashes along their common border.
In a Facebook post, Anwar said he was deeply concerned by the reports and offered his condolences to the families of those killed or injured.
The Prime Minister stressed that Malaysia stood ready to support steps which could help restore calm and avert further incidents, adding that Thailand and Cambodia were close partners of the country and key members of ASEAN.
“The renewed fighting risks unravelling the careful work that has gone into stabilising relations between the two neighbours,” he said today.
Anwar said the region could not afford to see long-standing disputes slip into cycles of confrontation.
“The immediate priority is to halt the fighting, safeguard civilians and return to a diplomatic path supported by international law and the neighbourly spirit on which ASEAN depends,” he added.
Earlier, international media reported that Thailand had launched air strikes along its disputed border with Cambodia.
At least one Thai soldier was killed and four were wounded in the fresh clashes that broke out around two areas in the easternmost province of Ubon Ratchathani. – BERNAMA
