Authorities in Stung Treng province are in talks with their Laotian counterparts to resolve a military impasse, after armed soldiers from the Kingdom’s northern neighbour confronted a Cambodian military engineers unit on Saturday and demanded they stop constructing a road near the border.

Reached yesterday, Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat said the standoff was in Siem Pang district’s Thma Keo commune near an area called O’Talao.

He said Stung Treng Governor Mom Saroeun and military commanders on the border were attempting to resolve the issue.

Saroeun said military engineers had completed 137km of the planned 150km road, which starts in Stung Treng town, when they met Laotian soldiers.

“Lao border military came into our border land and stopped our construction activity, claiming the area had not been demarcated,” he said. “Right now, we are trying to reconcile with them to avoid facing each other with military force.”

Provincial information department director Uk Theary said the Lao soldiers “did not listen” to an explanation that the area was inside Cambodia. He added that more Cambodian troops had been sent to the border.