Thai military using 'toxic gas', hospitalised Cambodians say

Cambodian soldier Kun Yong said he had been forced to pull back from his front-line position recently after he had trouble breathing following a sortie by a Thai aircraft.

- OU CHROV, Cambodia

"It's like I was suffocating," he told Reuters as he lay in a hospital bed, with his wife by his side.

Since early December, Thailand and Cambodia have been locked in a border conflict that has killed more than 40 people and displaced over half a million in both countries, marking the fiercest fighting between the two Southeast Asian nations in decades.

From their hospital beds in Banteay Meanchey province in northwest Cambodia, several soldiers and police described experiencing respiratory problems after Thai aircraft dropped what they said was "poisonous water".

Cambodia's Ministry of Defence has claimed on almost a daily basis that the Thai military is using "toxic gas", including as recently as Dec 17 in the village where Mr Kun Yong had been stationed. In a statement, the ministry called the use of gas, among other tactics, a clear violation of international law.