Thailand, Cambodia clash with jets and rockets in deadly border row
The fighting marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running spat between the neighbors — both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists — over an area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of both countries and Laos meet.
The decades-old squabble flared into bloody clashes more than 15 years ago and again in May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a firefight.
In Thursday's clashes, Cambodia fired rockets and artillery shells into Thailand and the Thai military scrambled F-16 jets to carry out air strikes.
The Thai public health ministry said one soldier and at least 11 civilians were killed, most of them in a rocket strike near a petrol station in Sisaket province.
Footage from the scene showed smoke pouring from a convenience store attached to the petrol station. Provincial officials said most of the dead were students who were inside the shop when the attack happened.
'I heard a loud noise three or four times, and when I looked over, there was a gigantic cloud of smoke,' Praphas Intaracheun, a 53-year-old gardener from Sisaket, told AFP.
He was refueling at another petrol station around 300 meters (328 yards) from the one that was hit.
'I'm scared it might escalate during the night when you can't see anything. I don't even dare sleep,' he said.
Thailand said 35 people have been wounded, and accused Cambodia of targeting civilian buildings.
A 30-bed hospital in the town of Phanom Dong Rak in Surin province, just 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the border, was hit by shells which shattered windows and collapsed part of a roof.
The facility, which was also struck in the last major clashes between the two countries in 2011, was partially evacuated on Wednesday night as a precaution.
'We got a tip that there would be an attack from Cambodia,' a soldier stationed at the entrance told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
'There is no telling when it will be safe enough for patients to return.'
Fighting was focused on six locations, the Thai army said, with ground troops and tanks battling Cambodian forces for control of territory.
Six Thai air force jets were deployed, hitting two 'Cambodian military targets on the ground,' according to Thai military deputy spokesperson Ritcha Suksuwanon.
Cambodia has not yet commented on casualties on its side. Defense ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata refused to answer when asked about the issue at a news conference.
AFP journalists met Cambodians fleeing their villages near the Thai border to escape the fighting.
'We dare not to stay, they were fighting so bad that my house was shaking,' Say Vuthy, 36, told AFP.
'We already dug a bunker but we dared not stay because we were scared that they will keep fighting at night.'
Both sides blame the other for starting the fighting, which erupted near two temples on the border.
At the request of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the deadly clashes, diplomatic sources told AFP.
Thailand's embassy in Phnom Penh urged its nationals to leave Cambodia 'as soon as possible.'
Both the European Union and China, a close ally of Phnom Penh, said they were 'deeply concerned' about the clashes, calling for dialogue.
The United States and France — Cambodia's former colonial ruler — also called separately for an immediate halt to fighting and for talks to begin.
The violence came hours after Thailand expelled the Cambodian ambassador and recalled its own envoy after five members of a Thai military patrol were wounded by a land mine.
Cambodia downgraded ties to 'the lowest level' on Thursday, pulling out all but one of its diplomats and expelling their Thai equivalents from Phnom Penh.
The border row also kicked off a domestic political crisis in Thailand, where Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended from office pending an ethics probe over her conduct.
A diplomatic call between Paetongtarn and Hun Sen, Cambodia's former longtime ruler and father of Hun Manet, was leaked from the Cambodian side, sparking a judicial investigation.
burs-pdw/sco/des/aks
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
21 hours ago
- Arab News
Cambodian workers flock home from Thailand after clashes
PHNOM: Hundreds of thousands of Cambodian migrant workers have returned from Thailand following deadly border clashes between the two neighbors, a labor ministry official told AFP on Wednesday. Cambodia and Thailand agreed on a ceasefire starting from Tuesday last week after five days of clashes killed at least 43 people on both sides when a long-standing dispute over contested border temples boiled over into fighting on their 800-kilometer (500-mile) boundary. Huge numbers of returning workers and their families streamed through the Ban Laem-Daung border post between Thailand's eastern Chanthaburi province and Battambang in Cambodia on Wednesday. Most were laden with belongings — suitcases, backpacks, heavy bags, blankets and electric fans — as they trudged on foot through the crossing. Cambodia's labor ministry spokesman Sun Mesa said more than 750,000 Cambodians, including children, had returned since clashes broke out on July 24. 'They feel unsafe and scared in Thailand,' he said, adding that there were reports that Cambodian migrants were attacked by 'gangsters.' There was no separate confirmation of the total of 750,000. A Thai immigration officer told AFP the official figure was 'confidential' but said 'there are many crossing back.' Thai media reports quoted the head of the Thai-Cambodia Border Trade and Tourism Association of Chanthaburi as saying more than 200,000 Cambodians had crossed back. The group said on its Facebook page that about 20,000 crossed on Tuesday and about 30,000 were expected to cross on Wednesday. A total of some 1.2 million Cambodian migrants have been living and working in Thailand, Sun Mesa said. Cambodia's defense ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said on Wednesday the situation remained calm along the Thai border and 'our forces are on high alert.' Officials from Cambodia and Thailand began meetings in Malaysia on Monday aimed at de-escalating border tensions. Nearly 300,000 people fled their homes as the two sides battled with jets, rockets and artillery along the rural border region, marked by a ridge of hills surrounded by wild jungle and agricultural land where locals farm rubber and rice.
Al Arabiya
21 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Russia strikes Ukrainian gas infrastructure, TASS says
Russian forces attacked gas transportation facilities in Ukraine that supply the Ukrainian military, the TASS state news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Defense Ministry.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Al Arabiya
War draws closer in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region
Gazing out at his vast, sun-drenched field of wheat in eastern Ukraine, farmer Sergii Dozhenko is nervous. 'Each year, the front line gets closer,' he told AFP. 'I'm scared.' One year ago, he said, the fighting was around 60 kilometers (37 miles) away. Russian forces have since cut that distance in half. Even more alarming, their drones have recently killed farmers across Dnipropetrovsk, a central region that had largely been spared the fighting which has devastated eastern and southern Ukraine. Following months of clashes, Russian troops in July claimed to have captured three villages in the region — a first in nearly three and a half years of war. Ukraine has denied the claims, but Sergii remains on edge, constantly scanning the sky for Russian explosive drones. 'Fields are burning. People are fleeing, leaving behind barren land,' he said. To counter Russian advances, Kyiv is building defensive lines further west, and parts of Sergii's land have already been dug up for trenches and barbed wire. 'This might be the last year we harvest here… it will probably be the last,' he said. 'Just to plant a flag' In Mezhove, a garrison town near the fighting, Ukrainian soldiers rejected Russia's claim of capturing the nearby village of Dachne, saying troops had briefly entered but were driven back. 'Russians love symbols. They send soldiers to die just to plant a flag,' said Andrii, a regiment commander who declined to give his last name. Few civilians now venture south from the town, where the road leads toward the front, just 12 kilometers (seven miles) away. On a bench, pensioners Olga and Zoya watched a plume of black smoke rise from a scorched field — another farmer reportedly targeted by a drone. Just a week earlier, one of their friends was killed in the same way, they said. Olga, 71, said the situation worsened significantly in early July when Moscow's troops reached the regional border. Zoya, who also declined to give her last name, said she was reluctantly preparing to evacuate — but couldn't bring herself to leave behind her cow, Lypka. 'I don't know how much time I have left,' she said through tears. 'Not enough to see Ukraine's victory,' she added. About 80 kilometers away, a large center for displaced people is now constantly full. AFP reporters saw evacuees arriving in vans, surrounded by suitcases, plastic bags, and pets. Some were weeping on the phone; others stared blankly ahead. Among them were people who had already fled once from eastern Ukraine and are now being displaced again. Alla Ryabtseva, a 57-year-old coordinator at the center who was herself displaced from the east, said these people no longer hesitate to leave. 'They've already experienced fear and understand the danger,' she said. The first major wave of evacuees arrived in early June, when fighting intensified near the region and evacuation orders were issued by authorities. The Kremlin has already claimed to annex five regions of Ukraine — claims not recognized by the international community. Dnipropetrovsk would be the sixth. 'Anxiety, worry, insomnia' At a hospital in Pavlograd, psychiatrist Natan said residents of the region are suffering from 'anxiety, excessive worry, insomnia.' Above all, he said, is the 'fear of not knowing what will happen next — whether to stay or leave.' Even amid the daily anxiety caused by air strikes, Natan said, 'when reports say our troops have pushed back the Russians, people become more calm.' The 44-year-old doctor, who declined to give his last name, said patients are constantly coming in. In the hospital's corridors, men with drawn faces waited outside the office of Marina Huebner, the head of the rehabilitation department. 'The front is getting closer. There are bombings, sleepless nights,' she said. The hospital is the last major medical facility before the front line. Staff are also deployed to combat zones to help stranded civilians. 'We are essentially like a fortress here, on the first line,' Huebner said.
