Cambodia vows fierce fight against Thailand in escalating border conflict
Cambodia’s senate president Hun Sen has pledged a fierce fight against Thailand as a second day of widespread renewed combat between the Southeast Asian neighbours drove tens of thousands of people to flee border areas.
Fighting broke out following a skirmish on Sunday during which two Thai soldiers were injured, derailing a ceasefire that ended fighting over competing territorial claims in July.
The five days of fighting left dozens dead on both sides, and forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 civilians.
In a sign that neither side was willing to back down, Thai prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Tuesday that Cambodia had not yet contacted Thailand about possible negotiations and that the fighting would continue.
“We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do,” he said.
“The government will support all kinds of military operations as planned earlier.”
He said on Monday that military action was necessary to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty and ensure public safety.
In a statement posted to Facebook and Telegram, Mr Sen claimed that his country had refrained from retaliating on Monday, but began to fire back at Thai forces overnight.
“Cambodia wants peace, but Cambodia is forced to fight back to defend its territory,” Mr Sen wrote.
He was Cambodia’s long-serving prime minister until 2023, when he was succeeded by his son Hun Manet, but is still widely seen as the country’s de facto leader.
Thailand’s military said Cambodia attacked Thai positions with artillery and rocket and drone attacks on Tuesday.
Thailand said that Cambodian forces also fired at its troops on Sunday and Monday, but each side blames the other for shooting first.
Cambodia’s military announced on Tuesday that the new fighting had killed seven civilians and wounded 20.
A Thai military spokesperson said that three soldiers had been killed.
Thailand carried out airstrikes along the frontier, which it called a defensive action targeting military installations, on Monday.
Thai military spokesperson Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said on Tuesday that such operations would continue “until attacks stop”.
An evacuation shelter at a university in Thailand’s north-eastern city of Surin hosted more than 3,600 people who were relocated from the danger zones. They sat or lay on thin mats and several set up small tents. At lunchtime, some lined up to receive cooked rice, while others were served ready-to-eat meals. An army band played for their entertainment.
The Thai army said almost 500 temporary shelters had been set up in four border provinces, accommodating 125,838 people.
Cambodian information minister Neth Pheaktra said almost 55,000 people had been evacuated and the numbers were mounting.
Thailand and Cambodia have a history of enmity over centuries and experience periodic tensions along their land border of more than 800km (500 miles).
Centuries ago, both were powerful empires, but Thailand’s size and greater development over the past century gives it the military advantage.
Some of the disputed territory hosts ancient temples that both nations covet as part of their heritage.
Cambodia’s culture ministry charged that Thai forces had damaged one, Ta Krabey temple, on Tuesday, calling the alleged action “a reprehensible act (reflecting) profound immorality”.
Thailand’s military, referring to the same 11th-century temple by its Thai name, alleged that Cambodian forces had launched rocket attacks into the north-eastern province of Surin.
Independent corroboration of either claim was not possible.
The ceasefire that ended July’s fighting was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from US president Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges from the two nations unless they agreed to it.
In Washington, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a statement that the United States was concerned by the uptick in violence and called for both sides to live up to the commitments they made in Kuala Lumpur in late October.
“We strongly urge the immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians, and for both sides to return to the de-escalatory measures outlined in the October 26 Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords signed by the prime ministers of Cambodia and Thailand and witnessed by President Trump and Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim,” Mr Rubio said.
The agreement called for removing heavy weapons from the border, desisting from disseminating false information and harmful rhetoric, implementing measures to restore mutual trust and co-ordinating operations to remove land mines.
None of these actions appear to have been fully implemented by either side.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
