Vietnam and Cambodia always closely cooperate on issues of border management and protection, security and order maintenance, and crime fighting in the border area, Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said Monday.

“We hope to continue cooperating with Cambodia in consolidating a borderline of peace, friendship, cooperation, and development,” she said.

Hang was replying to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper’s query regarding Cambodia’s recent deployment of military forces after detecting many unidentified drones flying into the country’s airspace.

The drone intrusion, according to Cambodian media, happened in Mondulkiri Province, which is located in the east of Cambodia, bordering the provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, and Binh Phuoc in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region.

The two countries have a common land borderline of over 1,100km long. 

On June 27 night, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the deployment of 500 soldiers and 200 anti-aircraft weapons to the eastern border after the detection of drones, according to Khmer Times.

In subsequent speeches to the public, the PM announced that border military units had not spotted any more drones.

The Cambodian government chief offered rewards for those who could detect drone intrusion, and also warned the public to be alert to related fake news.  

Khmer Times quoted PM Hun Sen as assuming that these drones were under the control of the terrorists involved in a recent armed attack in Dak Lak Province.  

PM Hun Sen also said that Vietnamese authorities had confirmed that the drones were not theirs.

The deadly terrorist attack, which targeted the offices of the people’s committees of two communes in the province, occurred on June 11 and left nine dead and two injured.

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