Cambodians flee border with Thailand as clashes continue for third day

Al Jazeera

6 days ago

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)