Thailand- Cambodia clashes enter third day; ‘feels like escaping war zone' locals share harrowing details: 10 pts
Blasts tore through the skies on Saturday afternoon, as clashes broke out for the first time in the rival-locked nations' coastal regions, where they meet on the Gulf of Thailand.
"It feels like I'm escaping a war zone," a 76-year-old farmer, Samlee Sornchai described the situation to AFP, while at a temple shelter for evacuees in the Thai town of Kanthararom, after abandoning his farm near the border. People who fled their homes near the border between Cambodia and Thailand, stay at a pagoda in Oddar Meanchey province on July 26, 2025. 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' (Photo by TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP)
3. Cambodia's defence ministry said 13 people have been confirmed killed in the fighting since Thursday, including eight civilians and five soldiers, with 71 people wounded.
4. Thai authorities reported that 13 civilians and seven soldiers have been killed on their side, taking the toll across both nations higher than it was in the last major round of fighting between 2008 and 2011.
5. Residents fleeing from their homes called for peace, stating that relations between the people of the two nations 'used to be good,' and that they 'were like siblings.'
6. "We are neighbours, we want to be friends," one 50-year-old told AFP at the temple shelter in Phumi Bak Thkav. 'But they are attacking us. We are fleeing homes because of them.' A woman who fled her home near the border between Cambodia and Thailand, sits on a hammock at a pagoda in Oddar Meanchey province on July 26, 2025. 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' (Photo by TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP)
7. Following a UN Security Council meeting 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.
8. On Friday, Thailand had declared 'martial law' in eight of its districts bordering Cambodia, after the two nations engaged in deadly clashes.
9. Prasat Preah Vihear and Prasat Ta Muen Thom, both Khmer-era Hindu temples about 95 miles apart, are two of the key sites where tensions flared on Thursday.
10. The previous most deadly clashes broke out between 2008 and 2011 – leaving at least 28 people dead.
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