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The Star
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
M'sian team seeks to end Thai-Cambodia tensions
PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian-led diplomatic delegation is engaging with Thailand and Cambodia to prevent further escalation along the contested border, says the Malaysian Armed Forces. Chief of Defence Forces Jen Tan Sri Mohd Nizam Jaffar (pic) is leading a diplomatic delegation to Thailand and Cambodia to facilitate discussions following an agreement by both countries to implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. The Armed Forces' Defence Intelligence and Strategic Communications Division said despite the ceasefire, several minor skirmishes were reported shortly after its implementation. However, this was addressed following a meeting between the regional commanders of both Thailand and Cambodia yesterday, where the parties reached a renewed agreement on several matters. 'Among them is to uphold the ceasefire agreement, prohibit attacks on civilians and halt any further reinforcement of troops. 'Both sides agreed to prohibit the movement of military forces, facilitate the return of wounded and deceased personnel, and to establish a coordination team consisting of four representatives from each side,' it said. The two parties also agreed to wait for further discussions and decisions based on the outcome of the upcoming General Border Committee meeting scheduled for Aug 4. 'The Malaysian delegation will proceed to Phnom Penh to hold further discussions with the Cambodian counterpart,' the statement said. The ceasefire was agreed to during a special meeting hosted by Malaysia on Monday, which brought the two South-East Asian neighbours to the negotiation table amid escalating tensions. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had brokered a meeting, the outcome of which saw Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thailand's Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai jointly agree to the ceasefire. Earlier yesterday, Thailand's army had accused Cambodia of violating an hours-old truce, saying that sporadic clashes continued despite an agreement to end the deadly fighting in the disputed border region between the two countries. Thai troops have retaliated 'appropriately' and in 'self-defence', Thailand's army spokesperson, Winthai Suvaree, said. The Thai-Cambodia conflict traces its roots to long-standing disputes stemming from colonial-era maps and treaties that defined boundaries. Relations had remained relatively stable since a 2011 clash that left dozens dead, before erupting into intense fighting last week.
The Star
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Border conflict bloodier than before
Lives upended: Evacuees resting inside a temporary shelter in Thailand's Sisaket province as border fighting intensified and spread. — Reuters Thailand and Cambodia clashed for a third day, as the death toll from their bloodiest fighting in years rose to 33 and Phnom Penh called for an 'immediate ceasefire'. A long-running border dispute erupted into intense conflict involving jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, prompting the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis Friday. Cambodia's Defence Ministry said 13 people were confirmed killed in the fighting, including eight civilians and five soldiers, with 71 people wounded. In Thailand, the army said five soldiers were killed on Friday, taking the toll there to 20 – 14 civilians and six military. The death toll across the two countries is now higher than the 28 killed in the last round of fighting between 2008 and 2011. Both sides reported a clash around 5am local time yesterday, with Cambodia accusing Thai forces of firing 'five heavy artillery shells' into locations in Pursat province, which borders Thailand's Trat province – on the coast some 250km southwest of the main frontlines. AFP journalists in the Cambodian town of Samraong, near the ridge of forest-clad hills that marks the border and has seen the bulk of the fighting, heard the thump of artillery yesterday afternoon. The fighting has forced more than 138,000 people to be evacuated from Thailand's border regions, with more than 35,000 driven from their homes in Cambodia. After the closed meeting of the Security Council in New York, Cambodia's UN ambassador Chhea Keo said his country wanted a ceasefire. 'Cambodia asked for an immediate ceasefire – unconditionally – and we also call for the peaceful solution of the dispute,' he told reporters. Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said yesterday that for any ceasefire or talks to proceed, Cambodia needed to show 'genuine sincerity in ending the conflict'. 'I urge Cambodia to stop violating Thai sovereignty and to return to resolving the issue through bilateral dialogue,' Maris told reporters. Both sides have blamed the 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. Cambodia has accused Thai forces of using cluster munitions. The Cambodian Education Ministry claimed that on Friday two Thai rockets had hit a school compound in Oddar Meanchey but caused no injuries. It said all schools in the province have been closed. Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra – still an influential figure in the kingdom – visited shelters yesterday to meet evacuees. 'The military needs to complete its operations before any dialogue can take place,' Thaksin told reporters. The 76-year-old said he had no plans to contact Hun Sen, Cambodia's powerful ex-prime minister who was long a close ally. 'His actions reflect a disturbed mindset. He should reflect on his conduct,' Thaksin said of Hun Sen. — Agencies
The Star
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Fiery exchange at the border
Jet strikes and shelling kill civilians as Thailand-Cambodia tensions boil over A Thai F-16 fighter jet bombed targets in Cambodia, both sides said, as weeks of tension over a border dispute escalated into clashes that have killed at least 12 people, including 11 civilians. Of the six F-16 fighter jets that Thailand readied to deploy along the disputed border, one of the aircraft fired into Cambodia and destroyed a military target, the Thai army said. Both countries accused each other of starting the clash yesterday. 'We have used air power against military targets as planned,' Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon told reporters. Thailand also closed its border with Cambodia. Cambodia's defence ministry said the jets dropped two bombs on a road, and that it 'strongly condemns the reckless and brutal military aggression of the Kingdom of Thailand against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia'. The skirmishes came after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia late on Wednesday and said it would expel Cambodia's envoy in Bangkok, after a second Thai soldier in the space of a week lost a limb to a landmine that Bangkok alleged had been laid recently in the disputed area. A man looking at the damage to Phanom Dong Rak hospital in Surin province, Thailand, after Cambodia fired artillery shells. — Agencies Thailand's health minister said 11 civilians, including a child, and one soldier were killed in artillery shelling by Cambodian forces while 24 civilians and seven military personnel were wounded. There was no immediate word of casualties in Cambodia. 'The Thai Army condemns Cambodia for using weapons to attack civilians in Thailand. 'Thailand is ready to protect sovereignty and our people from inhumane action,' the country's military said in a statement. China expressed concern at the fighting and said it was willing to play a role in promoting de-escalation. Thai residents including children and the elderly ran to shelters built of concrete and fortified with sandbags and car tyres in the Surin border province. 'How many rounds have been fired? It's countless,' an unidentified woman told the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS) while hiding in the shelter as gunfire and explosions were heard intermittently in the background. Cambodia's foreign ministry said Thailand's airstrikes were 'unprovoked' and called on its neighbour to withdraw its forces and 'refrain from any further provocative actions that could escalate the situation'. For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817km land border, which has led to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a week-long exchange of artillery in 2011. People resting at a shelter following recent clashes along the disputed border between the two countries in Surin province. — Agencies Tensions were reignited in May following the killing of a Cambodian soldier during a brief exchange of gunfire, which escalated into a full-blown diplomatic crisis and now has triggered armed clashes. The clashes began early yesterday near the disputed Ta Moan Thom temple along the border between Cambodia and Thailand, about 360km east of Bangkok. Thailand's Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told reporters the deaths took place across three border provinces and included an eight-year-old boy in Surin. He added that the Cambodian shelling included a strike on a hospital in Surin province, which he said should be considered a war crime. 'Artillery shell fell on people's homes,' Sutthirot Charoenthanasak, district chief of Kabcheing in Surin province, said, adding that authorities had evacuated 40,000 civilians from 86 border villages to safer locations. 'Two people have died,' he added. Video footage showed a plume of thick black smoke rising from a gas station in the neighbouring Thai Sisaket province, as firefighters rushed to extinguish the blaze. A total of eight people have been killed and 15 wounded in Sisaket, the health minister said, adding that another person was killed in the border province of Ubon Ratchathani. The army said Cambodia deployed a surveillance drone before sending troops with heavy weapons, including rocket launchers, to an area near the Ta Moan Thom temple. A spokesperson for Cambodia's defence ministry, however, said there had been an unprovoked incursion by Thai troops and Cambodian forces had responded in self-defence. Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the situation was delicate. 'We have to be careful,' he told reporters. 'We will follow international law.' — Reuters
The Star
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Cambodia-Thailand border talks drag on
THE country's defence ministry has said that the country's troops haven't withdrawn from a patch of land whose ownership is hotly disputed by neighbouring Thailand, but the declaration also echoed recent statements by both sides seeking a peaceful resolution to their competing border claims. Cambodian and Thai authorities engaged in saber-rattling last week after an armed confrontation at the border on May 28 left one Cambodian soldier dead. The incident, which each side blamed on the other, reportedly took place in a relatively small 'no man's land' constituting territory along their border that both countries claim is theirs. A declaration by the Cambodian defence ministry on Monday had 'No Withdrawal of Troops' as its first principle. It said that 'Cambodian forces have not been withdrawn from any areas under Cambodian sovereignty where they have been stationed for an extended period'. The wording left unclear exactly which positions had been occupied for 'an extended period'. His statement also reaffirmed Cambodia's territorial claims covering not only the spot near Morakot village in Cambodia's north-western province of Preah Vihear where the soldier was killed, but also three other pieces of disputed land. Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Seiha himself on Sunday had painted a slightly different picture, stating that Cambodia and Thai military leaders had met and decided to adjust the military forces of both sides to return to appropriate areas in order to reduce tension. His statement appeared to be in accord with what Thai Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai announced on Sunday, that both sides had withdrawn their forces to where they had been in 2024. That came after Thailand began shutting or limiting crossing hours at some of the numerous checkpoints along the countries' common border. The tough talk on both sides appeared aimed mostly at drumming up nationalist support among their own domestic audiences. — AP
The Star
29-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Thai, Cambodian troops briefly clash
Thai and Cambodian soldiers briefly fired at each other in their disputed border area. The Thai statement said Cambodian soldiers entered a disputed area and Thai soldiers approached to negotiate but due to a misunderstanding, the Cambodian side opened fire and the Thai soldiers retaliated. Cambodian army spokesman Mao Phalla said Cambodian troops were conducting a routine patrol when the Thai side opened fire. The clash lasted about 10 minutes until local commanders spoke to each other and ordered a ceasefire. The Thai army said the two were negotiating. The Thai army said it had no casualties, and the Cambodian official said there was no immediate information on its casualties. Thai Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the situation has resolved and said both sides did not intend to open fire at each other. Neighbouring Thailand and Cambodia have a long history of land disputes. The most prominent involved the Preah Vihear promontory, an area around a 1,000-year-old temple that was listed as a Unesco world heritage site in 2008. The UN's International Court of Justice granted sovereignty over the area to Cambodia in 2013. Previously, in February Cambodian troops and their families entered an ancient temple on the border and sang the Cambodian national anthem, leading to a brief argument with Thai troops. — AP
