Fighting along disputed Thai-Cambodian border enters second day
Clashes broke out at 4:30 a.m. local time on Friday after Cambodia initiated firing, using small arms and heavy weapons, Col. Richa Sooksuwanon, the deputy spokesperson for the Thai army, told CNN. The Thai army responded with artillery fire, he said.
The Thai army in the region also posted on Facebook in the following hours into Friday morning, warning that its forces were conducting bomb disposal operations and recovering bodies from the Kantharalak district that had been hit by Cambodian rockets on Thursday.
It warned that clashes were taking place in two locations in Ubon Ratchathani province and one in Surin province, and urged the public to avoid the area. Heavy weapon and rocket fire had been reported coming from Cambodia, it said.
The fighting broke out on Thursday following months of tensions along the two countries' 500-mile (800-kilometer) land border,
Thursday's clashes saw exchanges of small arms and rocket fire, with Thailand later scrambling F-16 jets and bombing what it said were military targets inside Cambodia.
At least 14 people have been killed so far in Thailand, mostly civilians, according to Thailand's Ministry of Public Health.
Meanwhile in Cambodia, at least one person has been killed and five wounded, according to Met Measpheakdey, a spokesperson from Oddar Meanchey province. He added that as of Friday morning, tensions were 'still heated.'
'The exchange of fighting… is still happening,' he said.
More than 4,000 people in Cambodia have been displaced from their homes near the border, the Associated Press reported on Friday, citing another official from Oddar Meanchey.
The recent flare-up came after five Thai soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion on Wednesday.
But tensions had been building since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed during a clash between Thai and Cambodian troops in which both sides opened fire in another contested border area of the Emerald Triangle, where Cambodia, Thailand and Laos meet.
Thailand and Cambodia have a relationship of both cooperation and rivalry. They share a 500-mile (800-kilometer) land border — largely mapped by France when it ruled Cambodia — that has periodically seen military clashes and been the source of political tensions.
But it's not an evenly matched fight. Thailand's military dwarfs Cambodia's in both personnel and weaponry; its 361,000 active-duty personnel is three times Cambodia's manpower.
And the United States classes Thailand as a major non-NATO ally, enabling Bangkok to enjoy decades of US support for its weapons programs.
Thailand's military has long been a major player within the kingdom's politics and has seized power in multiple coups, often toppling democratic governments. It portrays itself as the ultimate defender of the monarchy.
After the fighting began Thursday, several nations urged the neighbors to de-escalate and avoid further conflict, including Japan and the US.
CNN's Patrick Sarnsamak and Len Leng contributed reporting.
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