Cambodia calls for ‘immediate ceasefire' with Thailand after two days of deadly clashes
'Cambodia asked for an immediate ceasefire – unconditionally – and we also call for the peaceful solution of the dispute,' said UN ambassador Chhea Keo, after a closed meeting of the Council attended by Cambodia and Thailand.
A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border on Friday, after a day earlier a long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops, prompting the UN security council to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis.
More than 138,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand's border regions, its health ministry said, reporting 15 fatalities – 14 civilians and a soldier – with a further 46 wounded, including 15 troops.
Officials in the Cambodian province of Oddar Meanchey reported one civilian – a 70-year-old man – had been killed and five more wounded, but have otherwise not provided further details of any casualties. Cambodian authorities said more than 23,000 people have evacuated from areas near the border.
After the first day of clashes, fighting resumed in three areas around 4am on Friday, the Thai army said, however foreign ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told AFP that it had begun to ease off by Friday afternoon.
Balankura also said that Bangkok was open to talks, possibly aided by Malaysia.
'We are ready, if Cambodia would like to settle this matter via diplomatic channels, bilaterally, or even through Malaysia, we are ready to do that. But so far we have not had any response,' Nikorndej told AFP, speaking before the UN meeting had been held.
Malaysia currently holds the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regional bloc, of which Thailand and Cambodia are both members.
Earlier, acting Thai prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai had warned that if the situation escalated, 'it could develop into war.'
'For now, it remains limited to clashes,' he told reporters in Bangkok.
On Thursday, both sides blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket.
At the UN, Cambodia's envoy questioned Thailand's assertion that his country, which is smaller and less militarily developed than its neighbour, had initiated the conflict.
'[The Security Council] called for both parties to [show] maximum restraint and resort to a diplomatic solution. That is what we are calling for as well,' said Chhea Keo.
The fighting marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running dispute between the neighbours over their shared 800km border. Dozens of kilometres in several areas are contested and fighting broke out between 2008 and 2011, leaving at least 28 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.
A UN court ruling in 2013 settled the matter for over a decade, but the current crisis erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a new clash.
With Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press
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