From hospital beds, Cambodian soldiers describe toxic gas

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OU CHROV, Cambodia, Dec 17 - Cambodian soldier Kun Yong said he had been forced to pull back from his frontline position recently after he had trouble breathing following a sortie by a Thai aircraft.

Its 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.

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

It has not named the suspected gas, provided ⁠evidence, or said whether it has formally protested its use to international authorities. Spokespeople for the ministry and the national government did not answer phone calls seeking fresh comment.

Reuters could not independently verify the claims.

Thai Air Force spokesman Air Marshal Jackkrit Thammavichai told Reuters that the air force had never used chemical weapons, and called reports of their use fake ​news aimed at discrediting its operations.

If it were chemical weapons, they wouldnt be experiencing difficulties breathing, they would have died, he said.

POISONOUS SMOKE

During fighting in July, Cambodia accused Thailand ‌of using