LIVE: At least 2 killed as Thai, Cambodian troops clash at disputed border
Thailand's military said Cambodian troops opened fire first with heavy weapons, while Cambodia's Ministry of National Defence said its troops acted in self-defence after coming under attack.
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Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
Cambodia calls for immediate ceasefire with Thailand
Cambodia on Friday called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire following an escalation in violence along its border with Thailand. "Cambodia asked for an immediate ceasefire - unconditionally - and we also call for the peaceful solution of the dispute," Cambodia's ambassador to the UN, Chhea Keo, said following a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York. Keo dismissed Bangkok's accusations that Cambodia had attacked the country, pointing out that Cambodia's army is only a third the size of Thailand's. He also said that Cambodia lacks a fully equipped air force. At the closed-door meeting, members of the Security Council called on both sides to exercise extreme restraint. Long-standing tensions between the two South-East Asian neighbours flared on Thursday, when exchanges of fire broke out along the border. In response, the Thai military said it had deployed fighter jets against Cambodian positions. Cambodia responded with artillery fire, hitting areas including civilian infrastructure. A petrol station and a hospital were struck. Each side has blamed the other for initiating the latest round of fighting. According to media reports, Thailand carried out further airstrikes on Friday.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Cambodians flee border with Thailand as clashes continue for third day
Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia – Explosions reverberated in the distance along the Thai-Cambodia border, as a Cambodian soldier waited his turn for surgery to remove shrapnel embedded in his body from a Thai artillery shell. The soldier said he was injured in fighting with Thai troops on Friday near the ancient Ta Moan Thom temple along the contested border separating the Cambodian province of Oddar Meanchey and the Thai province of Surin. 'I have shrapnel in my back and it hasn't been removed yet. I need surgery,' the soldier told Al Jazeera, lying in bed in a hospital corridor, his wife and son seated on the floor beside him. 'They took me to the military hospital first, but they didn't have an X-ray [machine],' the soldier said. 'When I was hit, my clothes were blown off,' he added. A second injured Cambodian soldier told how he took shrapnel to his left shoulder while fighting near the Ta Krabei temple, another disputed location on the Thai-Cambodia border. Cambodia claims to have gained control over territory around Ta Moan and Ta Krabei, along with six other contested sites, after pushing back Thai troops soon after clashes broke out Thursday. That claim could not be independently verified. The temples, like many areas along the more than 800km (500 miles) border these two Southeast Asian neighbours share, have long been a flashpoint due to disputed territorial claims. The last major border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia broke out in 2011 near the 11th-century Preah Vihear Hindu temple, which belongs to Cambodia and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As of Saturday afternoon, more than 30 people, most of whom are civilians, have been confirmed killed on both sides of the border. At least 13 people have been killed in Cambodia, according to authorities, while some 20 have reportedly been killed in Thailand. Civilian infrastructure has also been bombed on both sides of the border in the three days of fighting. 'We ran for our lives' Along the Cambodian side of the border, the clashes of artillery and rocket fire have forced civilians to flee. 'I miss my home,' said Chheng Deab, a displaced Cambodian villager who fled her home located about 5km (3 miles) from the Thai border in Oddar Meanchey. Chheng Deb told how she left her home following a directive from local authorities and is now sheltering with her children at a primary school away from clashes, with dozens of other families who fled the border area. 'If the shooting continues, we'll keep moving. We don't know when it's going to finish,' she said. For the displaced people, food is already running low and uncertainty is mounting as many worry about the fate of their homes, livestock and farms – vital lifelines in Cambodia's impoverished border regions. Families told Al Jazeera how they had already returned home briefly, despite the danger, just to tend to their livestock and collect belongings left behind when they fled Thailand's attack. Most said their most urgent need now is food. 'We have little food left,' Chheng Deab said. 'If this continues, we'll have nothing to eat.' At a second site where displaced Cambodians had gathered, many expressed the same concerns, saying support from government authorities has been limited. A local village chief said residents have been pooling rice and other supplies to help each other. One woman, who asked not to be named, recalled her escape a day before the fighting erupted. She said some members of her community had been working in the fields when bombs fired by the Thai military suddenly began to rain down. 'Samraong district [in Oddar Meanchey] has been the most heavily bombed by the Thais. We ran for our lives and couldn't take everything we needed,' she told Al Jazeera. Thailand-Cambodia tit-for-tat escalation With the fighting reportedly spreading to many areas along the border, about 140,000 Thai civilians have fled or been evacuated from their homes, according to local officials. The Thai military has also declared martial law in eight border districts. In Cambodia, about 38,000 people have been uprooted from their homes across Preah Vihear, Oddar Meanchey and Pursat provinces. The long-running border disputes between Cambodia and Thailand – some of which date back more than a century – re-erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a brief exchange of gunfire with Thai troops. After months of trading punitive tit-for-tat diplomatic and trade measures, tensions spilled over earlier this week when several Thai soldiers were injured by landmines in the disputed border zone between the two countries. Thailand accused Cambodian troops of deliberately planting new mines. Phnom Penh vehemently denied doing so, claiming the mines were left over from Cambodia's civil war in the 1980s and 1990s. Thailand recalled its ambassador and expelled Cambodia's envoy. Phnom Penh then pulled its diplomats in response, and both sides downgraded diplomatic ties. Direct fighting then broke out on Thursday morning, with both sides trading blame for who fired the first shots. In Oddar Meanchey province, the scene of the most intense fighting on the Cambodian side, there were sporadic but intense exchanges of machinegun, missile and artillery fire across the border on Friday. Cambodia has also accused Thailand of using cluster munitions – which are banned under international treaties – while Thailand, for its part, has accused Cambodia of repeatedly firing long-range rockets into civilian areas, including a hospital. Phumtham Wechayachai, Thailand's acting prime minister, said he believed Cambodia might be guilty of war crimes for its alleged attacks on civilians. Cambodia's prime minister has accused Thailand's armed forces of launching 'unprovoked, premeditated, and deliberate attacks'. With both leaders eager to paint the other as the aggressor, authorities on both sides of the border appear to be making preparations for what could be an extended conflict. (Additional reporting by Vutha Srey)
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Death toll in Thailand-Cambodia border clashes hits 32, dozens wounded
Cambodian officials have reported another 12 people killed as a result of the ongoing border dispute with Thailand, with the death toll on both sides now standing at 32, as fears grow that the Southeast Asian neighbours may become engulfed in an extended conflict. Cambodian Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Maly Socheata told reporters on Saturday that seven more civilians and five soldiers were confirmed dead. One other Cambodian man was earlier reported killed when Thai rockets hit the Buddhist pagoda he was hiding in on Thursday. Thailand has reported 13 civilians – including children – as well as six soldiers killed over the past two days of fighting. An additional 29 Thai soldiers and 30 civilians have also been wounded in Cambodian attacks. Cambodian newspaper The Khmer Times, quoting officials in Cambodia's Preah Vihear province, said about 20,000 residents have so far been evacuated from the country's northern border with Thailand. More than 138,000 people have also been evacuated from Thailand's border regions, with about 300 evacuation centres opened, according to Thai officials. On Friday, Thailand declared martial law in eight districts along the border with Cambodia. The decades-old conflict – centred around a contested section of the Thai-Cambodian border – re-erupted on Thursday after a landmine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Tensions spilled over on Thursday with Thailand and Cambodia carrying out direct attacks on one another's territory, with both sides accusing the other of opening fire first. Thailand said the Cambodian military launched long-range rockets at civilian targets in the country, including a strike on a petrol station that killed at least six people. The Thai military then scrambled an F-16 fighter jet to bomb targets in Cambodia, including the reported strike on the Buddhist pagoda, which resulted in one civilian casualty. Cambodia has accused Thailand of using a large number of cluster munitions – a controversial and widely condemned weapon – calling it a clear violation of international law. Phumtham Wechayachai, Thailand's acting prime minister, said on Friday that Cambodia may be guilty of war crimes due to the deaths of civilians, as well as damage caused to a hospital. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held an emergency meeting focused on the clashes behind closed doors late on Friday in New York, but did not issue an official public statement after the meeting. The Associated Press news agency, citing an unnamed council diplomat, reported that all 15 UNSC members called on the parties to de-escalate fighting, show restraint and resolve the dispute peacefully.
