According to the Thai Army, the Thai military hit Cambodian army targets with air strikes on Monday after new fighting broke out along their border dispute. The armed clash that happened at dawn in Ubon Ratchathani province, claimed the life of one Thai soldier and resulted in the wounding of four others.
Thai Army spokesman Winthai Suvaree said that the Cambodian troops fired first at the Thai military along the border. He stated that the Thai forces were heavily attacked with heavy supporting weapons and in response to that, Thailand carried out air operations. The air force was deployed to strike what Thailand described as military targets in several locations to halt further attacks.
Cambodia’s Defence Ministry presented a different account. Spokeswoman Maly Socheata said Thai forces launched the first strikes in the border regions of Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey. She accused Thailand of firing tank rounds near the Tamone Thom temple and other sites close to the historic Preah Vihear temple. According to her, Cambodian troops did not fire back.
Local Cambodian officials also reported gunfire around the centuries-old Tamone Thom and Ta Krabei temples. Met Measpheakdey, a spokesman for the Oddar Meanchey provincial administration, said several villagers living close to the border fled their homes out of concern for their safety.
On the Thai side, authorities said roughly 35,000 residents had been evacuated from border districts as a precaution. The renewed tension followed a brief clash on Sunday that had injured two Thai soldiers.
The current escalation of hostilities only refers to the events of the past few months and specifically of the July fighting that was so intense that it resulted in the death of several dozen people and the displacement of hundreds of thousands on both sides. The confrontation, which was stopped by a ceasefire, was characterized by artillery, rockets and air support.
The ceasefire agreement that stopped the fighting in July was due to the talks led by U.S. President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. During the signing event in Kuala Lumpur last October, a wider-ranging pact was inked with Trump’s presence. However, the border disputes that caused the conflict have still not been settled.
For over a hundred years, Thailand and Cambodia have been fighting over different parts of their 817-kilometre land border. Most of the areas in dispute are those that come from the maps made in 1907 when Cambodia was still a colony of France. The recent fighting demonstrates that the situation is still very unstable although there have been some diplomatic efforts recently.
