BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s army warned that it may have to “exercise the right of self-defense” in response to continuing incidents it blames on Cambodia, in which Thai soldiers patrolling along the two countries’ border have been wounded by land mines.
A statement from Thai Army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree said a sergeant was patrolling the border with seven other soldiers Tuesday morning when he ”stepped on an anti-personnel landmine covertly planted by the Cambodian side, resulting in severe injuries to his left ankle.”
The incident and the Thai reaction indicates the precariousness of the ceasefire that took effect on July 29 with the aim of ending five days of armed clashes over disputed territory along their border. The fighting killed dozens of people on both sides, including civilians, and displaced more than 260,000.
Tuesday’s land mine incident was the fourth of its kind in about a month, and the second since the ceasefire. It took place about 1 kilometer (a half-mile) from Ta Muen Thom temple, which Thailand claims is located in its Surin province.
The area, which was the scene of heavy fighting in July, is one of several along the border that both countries claim as their own.
In another disputed area Saturday, a Thai sergeant major suffered severe injuries, including losing his left foot, while two privates suffered lesser injuries.
“This incident serves as clear evidence that the Cambodian side has violated the ceasefire agreement and shows no respect for international humanitarian law, particularly the Ottawa Convention, which prohibits the use and placement of all types of anti-personnel landmines,” said the Thai army statement about the latest incident. Both countries are parties to the international agreement.
The statement noted the multiple similar incidents and declared that Thailand “has consistently adhered to peaceful approaches and has not been the initiating party.”
“However, should circumstances become compelling, it may be necessary to exercise the right of self-defense under international law principles to resolve situations that cause Thailand to continuously lose personnel due to violations of ceasefire agreements and sovereignty encroachments by Cambodian military forces,” it warned.
Cambodia's Defense Ministry “categorically and unequivocally rejects the baseless, false, and deliberately misleading allegations from the Thai side regarding the injuries of Thai soldiers,” said its spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata.
“Cambodia, as a proud and responsible State Party to the Ottawa Convention, maintains an absolute and uncompromising position: we have never used, produced, or deployed new landmines under any circumstances, and we strictly and fully honor our obligations under international law,” she said, echoing previous official denials.
Ly Thuch, senior minister and first vice-president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, noted that Cambodia has cleared more than 1 million mines and nearly 3 million other pieces of unexploded ordnance left over from more than three decades of war and civil unrest that began in 1970, according to an interview with the Cambodian state news agency AKP.
Cambodia and Thailand have clashed in the past over their 800-kilometer (500-mile) border. Tensions had been growing since May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand’s domestic politics.
In this handout photo from the Thai Army, a Thai military engineer on Aug. 4, 2025 poses after recovering anti-personnel mine that Thai authorities allege was planted by Cambodian soldiers in Phu Ma Kheua, a disputed area that Thailand claims is part of its Sisaket province, where the two nations recently clashed. (Thai Army via AP)
In this handout photo from the Thai Army, a Thai military engineer on Aug. 4, 2025 removes an anti-personnel mine that Thai authorities allege was planted by Cambodian soldiers in Phu Ma Kheua, a disputed area that Thailand claims is part of its Sisaket province, where the two nations recently clashed. (Thai Army via AP)
U.S. President Donald Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” in a text message released on Monday.
Trump's message to Jonas Gahr Støre appears to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. On Saturday, Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.
Those countries issued a forceful rebuke. But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to de-escalate tensions on Monday. While the White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force, Starmer said he did not believe military action would occur.
"I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said.
Still, the American leader's message to Gahr Støre could further fracture a U.S.-European relationship already strained by differences over how to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine, previous rounds of tariffs, military spending and migration policy.
In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change the their stance.
“We will not be pressured,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press that she was moved by the quick response of allies to the tariff threat and said it showed that countries realize “this is about more than Greenland.”
“I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would be next?”
Trump's message to Gahr Støre, released by the Norwegian government, read in part: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
It concluded: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
The Norwegian leader said Trump’s message was a reply to an earlier missive sent on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they conveyed their opposition to the tariff announcement, pointed to a need to de-escalate, and proposed a telephone conversation among the three leaders.
“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. “As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to president Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”
He told TV2 Norway that he hadn't responded to the message, but "I still believe it’s wise to talk," and he hopes to talk with Trump in Davos this week.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the president’s approach in Greenland during a brief Q&A with reporters in Davos, Switzerland, which is hosting the World Economic Forum meeting this week.
“I think it’s a complete canard that the president would be doing this because of the Nobel,” Bessent said, immediately after saying he did not “know anything about the president’s letter to Norway.”
Bessent insisted Trump “is looking at Greenland as a strategic asset for the United States,” adding that “we are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else.”
Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it though the committee said the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.
In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated they would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.
European governments said that the troops traveled to the island to assess Arctic security, part of a response to Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.
Starmer on Monday called Trump’s threat of tariffs “completely wrong” and said that a trade war is in no one’s interest.
He added that “being pragmatic does not mean being passive and partnership does not mean abandoning principles.”
Six of the eight countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade. European Council President Antonio Costa said Sunday that the bloc’s leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” He announced a summit for Thursday evening.
Starmer indicated that Britain, which is not part of the EU, is not planning to consider retaliatory tariffs.
“My focus is on making sure we don’t get to that stage,” he said.
Denmark’s defense minister and Greenland’s foreign minister are expected to meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday, a meeting that was planned before the latest escalation.
Associated Press writers Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida; Emma Burrows in Nuuk, Greenland; and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
The Danish navy's inspection ship HDMS Vaedderen sails off Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Danish soldiers disembark at the harbor in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Danish soldiers disembark at the harbor in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
