Thailand and Cambodia exchange fire in clashes that kill at least 9 civilians
BANGKOK — Thailand and Cambodia exchanged fire on their border Thursday in a sharp escalation of their conflict that killed at least nine civilians.
Both nations accused each other of starting the military clashes and have downgraded their diplomatic relations since Wednesday. Thailand also sealed all land border crossings with Cambodia. Relations between the Southeast Asian neighbours have deteriorated sharply since an armed confrontation in May that killed a Cambodian soldier. Nationalist passions on both sides have further inflamed the situation.
The Thai army said the most casualties occurred in Si Sa Ket province, where six people were killed after shots were fired at a gas station. At least 14 people were injured in three border provinces.
The Thai army said it launched airstrikes Thursday on ground military targets in Cambodia, while the Cambodian Defence Ministry said the Thai jets dropped bombs on a road near the ancient Preah Vihear temple.
Both governments say they have to respond to the other's actions
Clashes are ongoing in at least six areas along the border, Thai Defence Ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri said. The first clash Thursday morning happened in an area near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple along the border of Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province.
A livestream video from Thailand's side showed people running from their homes and hiding in a concrete bunker Thursday morning as explosions sounded.
Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Cambodia has attacked both military and non-military sites in Thailand, including a hospital.
'The Royal Thai Government calls upon Cambodia to take responsibility for the incidents that have occurred, cease attacks against civilian and military targets, and stop all actions that violate Thailand's sovereignty. The Royal Thai Government is prepared to intensify our self-defence measures if Cambodia persists in its armed attack and violations upon Thailand's sovereignty in accordance with international law and principles,' said Nikorndej Balankura, the ministry's spokesperson.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet said his country has always maintained a position of peaceful resolution of problems, but 'we have no choice but to respond with armed force against armed aggression.'
Ambassadors are withdrawn and borders closed
Earlier Thursday, Cambodia said it was downgrading diplomatic relations with Thailand to their lowest level, expelling the Thai ambassador and recalling all Cambodian staff from its embassy in Bangkok. That was in response to Thailand withdrawing its ambassador and expelling the Cambodian ambassador Wednesday to protest a land mine blast that wounded five Thai soldiers.
The Thai army said of Thursday's initial clash that its forces heard an unmanned aerial vehicle before seeing six armed Cambodian soldiers moving closer to Thailand's station. It said Thai soldiers tried to shout at them to defuse the situation but the Cambodian side started to open fire.
Cambodia's Defence Ministry also said Thailand employed a drone first before opening fire, and that Cambodia 'acted strictly within the bounds of self-defence, responding to an unprovoked incursion by Thai troops that violated our territorial integrity.'
The Thai embassy in Phnom Penh posted on Facebook that there were clashes at several border areas that could continue to escalate. It urged Thai nationals in Cambodia to leave the country if they could and advised others not to travel to Cambodia unless absolutely necessary.
On Wednesday, a land mine blast near the border wounded five Thai soldiers, one of whom lost a leg. A week earlier, a land mine in a different contested area exploded and wounded three Thai soldiers when one of them stepped on it and lost a foot.
Thai authorities have alleged the mines were newly laid along paths that by mutual agreement were supposed to be safe. They said the mines were Russian-made and not of a type employed by Thailand's military. Cambodia rejected Thailand's account as 'baseless accusations,' pointing out that many unexploded mines and other ordnance are a legacy of 20th century wars and unrest.
The border dispute has also caused political fallout in Thailand, whose prime minister was suspended from office to be investigated for possible ethics violations over the matter.
Border disputes are longstanding issues that have caused periodic tensions between the countries. The most prominent and violent conflicts have been around the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple.
In 1962, the International Court of Justice recognized Cambodian sovereignty over the temple area in a ruling that became a major irritant in the relations of both countries.
Cambodia went back to the court in 2011, following several military clashes that killed about 20 people. The court reaffirmed the ruling in 2013, a decision that still rattled Thailand.
___
Associated Press writer Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, contributed to this report.
Jintamas Saksornchai, The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Thailand and Cambodia trade fresh attacks and accusations as allies call for a ceasefire
SURIN, Thailand — Thailand and Cambodia traded accusations of fresh attacks Saturday as deadly border clashes entered a third day and international pressure mounted for a ceasefire. The fighting has killed at least 33 people and displaced more than 168,000. Artillery and small arms fire were reported near several border villages, expanding the area of the fighting that flared Thursday after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Cambodian and Thai officials blamed each other for starting the clashes. Both countries recalled their ambassadors and Thailand closed its border crossings with Cambodia. Cambodian authorities reported 12 new deaths on Saturday, bringing its toll to 13, while the Thai military said a soldier was killed, raising the number of dead to 20, mostly civilians. Cambodia's Information Minister Neth Pheaktra said Saturday that the clashes have forced 10,865 Cambodian families, or 37,635 people, in three border provinces to evacuate to safe locations. Thai officials said more than 131,000 people have fled their border villages. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is under growing pressure to defuse the tensions between its two members. During an emergency meeting on Friday, members of the UN Security Council called for a de-escalation and urged ASEAN to mediate a peaceful solution. On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is in contact with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia and has urged both sides to reach a ceasefire. In a post on social media, Trump suggested he would not conclude a trade agreement with either country if the cross-border hostilities continued. The 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades, but past confrontations have been limited and brief. The latest tensions flared in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand's domestic politics. Sides trade accusations and deny responsibility Cambodia's Defense Ministry condemned what it called an expanded Thai offensive early Saturday after five heavy artillery shells were fired into Pursat province. It said the attack was an 'unprovoked and premeditated act of aggression.' Ministry spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said tensions flared in the coastal province of Koh Kong and expressed concern about the possibility of confrontations at sea. Maly Socheata said seven Cambodian civilians and five soldiers have been killed in two days of fighting. Another man was reportedly killed when a pagoda he was hiding under was hit by Thai rockets. The Thai army has denied targeting Cambodian civilians and accuses Phnom Penh of using 'human shields' by positioning their weapons near residential areas. In a statement Saturday, Thailand's navy accused Cambodian forces of initiating a new attack in the province of Trat, which shares a border with Koh Kong, saying Thai forces responded swiftly and 'successfully pushed back the Cambodian incursion at three key points.' The navy warned that 'aggression will not be tolerated.' Thai authorities also alleged several Cambodian artillery shells damaged homes and property in neighboring Laos. Lao officials have not publicly responded to the claim. Call to protect civilians amid claim of cluster bomb use Human Rights Watch urged the UN Security Council and other nations to press Thailand and Cambodia to abide by international humanitarian law and take all steps to protect civilians. Children have been harmed and Thailand has closed at least 852 schools and seven hospitals for safety reasons, the rights group said in a statement Saturday. Both sides have fired rockets and artillery, and after initially denying Cambodian claims that internationally prohibited cluster munitions were being used, a Thai military spokesperson said Friday that such weapons can be utilized 'when necessary' to achieve military objectives. Human Rights Watch condemned the use of cluster munitions in populated areas. Neither Thailand nor Cambodia is party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use of the weapon. Thai authorities used them during a border dispute with Cambodia in February 2011 that left 20 people dead. 'Neither Thailand nor Cambodia appears to be paying attention to international humanitarian law at great expense to civilians,' John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. 'Diplomatic efforts underway need to prioritize protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure.' Thai officials acknowledged it used F-16 jets and drones to launch airstrikes. International allies call for peace The UN Security Council didn't issue a resolution on the crisis during its Friday emergency session, but Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said Saturday that the group's 15 members called for restraint, an end to hostilities and a peaceful resolution. They also supported mediation by ASEAN, he said. The leader of Malaysia, ASEAN's current chair, has said Thailand and Cambodia are open in principle to a ceasefire proposal. Malaysian media said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has tasked the country's foreign minister to mediate peace talks. Maris said Saturday his country has agreed in principle to ASEAN's ceasefire proposal, but insisted that Cambodia must first cease hostilities. He said Thailand continues to engage with Malaysia on the matter. 'Thailand reaffirms its commitment to resolving the conflict peacefully and in accordance with international law,' he said, urging Cambodia to 'return to the negotiating table with sincerity and in good faith.' Jintamas Saksornchai And Sopheng Cheang, The Associated Press Associated Press writers Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul and Grant Peck in Bangkok, and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report. Sopheng Cheang reported from Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
In Syria's Sweida, the stench of death still lingers days after sectarian bloodshed
Residents walk past a burned-out military vehicle after last week's sectarian clashes in the Druze-majority town of Sweida, Syria, on Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki) SWEIDA, Syria (AP) — The stench of decaying bodies hangs heavy in the streets of the provincial capital in Syria's southern province of Sweida, where fighting recently erupted. Once bustling roads now lie eerily silent, with only a few people passing by. In some areas, the destruction is overwhelming, with buildings and cars charred black. At a bank branch, shattered glass covered the floor as an alarm blared nonstop. Walls are emblazoned with slogans graffitied by both sides in the recent conflict. The devastation came after violent clashes broke out two weeks ago, sparked by tit-for-tat kidnappings between armed Bedouin clans and fighters from the Druze religious minority. The fighting killed hundreds of people and threatened to unravel Syria's fragile postwar transition. Syrian government forces intervened, ostensibly to end the fighting, but effectively sided with the clans. Some government fighters reportedly robbed and executed Druze civilians. Associated Press journalists from outside the city were able to enter Sweida on Friday for the first time since the violence started on July 13. With a ceasefire largely holding, residents of Sweida are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. 'Snipers hit him' At the main hospital, where bodies of those killed in the fighting were piled up for days, workers were scrubbing the floor, but the smell lingered. Manal Harb was there with her wounded 19-year-old son, Safi Dargham, a first-year engineering student, who was shot while volunteering at the overwhelmed hospital. 'Snipers hit him in front of the hospital,' she said. 'We are civilians and have no weapons.' Safi sustained injuries to his elbow, behind his ear, and his leg. Harb says he may lose his arm if he doesn't receive urgent treatment. Harb's husband, Khaled Dargham, was killed when armed men stormed their home, shot him, and set the house on fire. She said the armed men also stole their phones and other belongings. An emergency room nurse who gave only her nickname, Em Hassib ('mother of Hassib'), said she had remained in the hospital with her children throughout the conflict. She alleged that at one point, government fighters who were brought to the hospital for treatment opened fire, killing a police officer guarding the hospital and wounding another. The AP could not independently verify her claim. She said the bodies had piled up for days with no one to remove them, becoming a medical hazard. Sectarian tensions simmer as Druze resist disarmament Disturbing videos and reports from Sweida surfaced showing Druze civilians being humiliated and executed during the conflict, sometimes accompanied by sectarian slurs. After a ceasefire took hold, some Druze groups launched revenge attacks on Bedouin communities. The U.N. has said more than 130,000 people were displaced by the violence. Government officials, including interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, have promised to hold accountable those who targeted civilians, but many residents of Sweida remain angry and suspicious. The Druze religious sect is an offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. There are roughly a million Druze worldwide and more than half of them live in Syria. The others live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights — which Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. The Druze largely welcomed the fall of former President Bashar Assad in December in a rebel offensive that ended decades of autocratic rule by the Assad dynasty. However, the new government under al-Sharaa, a former Islamist commander who once had al-Qaida ties, drew mixed reactions from Druze leaders. Some clerics supported engaging with the new leadership, while others, including spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and his Sweida Military Council, opposed him. Al-Sharaa has denied targeting the Druze and blamed the unrest on armed groups defying state authority, particularly those loyal to al-Hijri. He also accused Israel of deepening divisions by striking Syrian forces in Sweida, attacks that were carried out under the pretext of defending the Druze. Talal Jaramany, a 30-year-old Druze resort owner, took up arms during the fighting. 'What pushed me to put on a military uniform and go to the front lines is that what happened was lawless,' he told The Associated Press. Jaramany insisted there was little distinction between the Bedouin clans and the government's General Security forces. 'They used weapons, not dialogue,' he said. He rejects calls for disarmament, saying the Druze need their weapons for self-defense. 'We won't hand over our arms. Our weapon is sacred,' he said. 'It's not for attacking. We've never been supporters of war. We'll only give it up when the state provides real security that protects human rights.' Sweida's Christians also recount near-death escapes Members of Sweida's Christian minority were also caught up in the violence. At a church where a number of Christian families were sheltering, 36-year-old Walaa al-Shammas, a housewife with two children, said a rocket struck her home on July 16. 'Had we not been sheltering in the hallway, we would've been gone,' she said. 'My house lies in destruction and our cars are gone.' Gunmen came to the damaged house later, but moved on, apparently thinking it was empty as the family hid in the hallway, she said. In recent days, hundreds of people — Bedouins as well as Druze and Christians — have evacuated Sweida in convoys of buses carrying them to other areas, organized by the Syrian Red Crescent. Others have found their own way out. Micheline Jaber, a public employee in the provincial government in Sweida, was trying to flee the clashes last week with her husband, in-laws and extended family members when the two cars they were driving in came under shelling. She was wounded but survived, along with her mother-in-law and the young son of one of her husband's siblings. Her husband and the rest of the family members who were fleeing with them were killed. Someone, Jaber doesn't know who, loaded her and the other two survivors in a car and drove them to an ambulance crew, which evacuated them to a hospital outside of the city. She was then taken to another hospital in the southwestern city of Daraa, and finally transported to Damascus. She's now staying with friends in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, her arms encased in bandages. 'When the shell hit the car, I came out alive — I was able to get out of the car and walk normally,' Jaber said. 'When you see all the people who died and I'm still here, I don't understand it. God has His reasons.' The one thing that comforts her is that her 15-year-old daughter was with her parents elsewhere at the time and was not harmed. 'My daughter is the most important thing and she is what gives me strength,' Jaber said. ___ Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Omar Sanadiki And Sally Abou Aljoud, The Associated Press
CBC
7 hours ago
- CBC
Fighting on Thai-Cambodia border enters 3rd day as Malaysia urges ceasefire
Social Sharing Fighting on the Thai-Cambodian border extended into a third day and new flashpoints emerged on Saturday as both sides said they had acted in self-defence in the border dispute and called on the other to cease fighting and start negotiations. More than 30 people have been killed and more than 130,000 people displaced in the worst fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours in 13 years. There were clashes early Saturday, both sides said, in the neighbouring Thai coastal province of Trat and Cambodia's Pursat province early, a new front more than 100 kilometres from other conflict points along the long-contested border. The two countries have faced off since the killing of a Cambodian soldier late in May during a brief skirmish. Troops on both sides of the border were reinforced amid a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand's fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse. As of Saturday, Thailand said seven soldiers and 13 civilians had been killed in the clashes, while in Cambodia five soldiers and eight civilians had been killed, said Defence Ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata. In the Thai border province of Sisaket, a university compound has been converted into temporary accommodation, where a volunteer said more than 5,000 people were staying. WATCH | A breakdown of the deadly clashes between Thailand and Cambodia: Why Thailand's F-16s just bombed Cambodia in escalating border dispute | About That 17 hours ago A century-old border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia has boiled over after Thai and Cambodian forces fired on each other in a deadly exchange. Andrew Chang explains what spurred this recent violence and why neither side appears eager to back down. Samrong Khamduang said she left her farm, about 10 kilometres from the border, when fighting broke out on Thursday. The 51-year-old's husband stayed behind to look after livestock. "We got so scared with the sound of artillery," she said. "But my husband stayed back and now we lost the connection. I couldn't call him. I don't know what is happening back there." In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the chair of the ASEAN regional bloc, said he would continue to push a ceasefire proposal. Cambodia has backed Anwar's plan, while Thailand has said it agreed with it in principle. "There is still some exchange of fire," Anwar said, according to state news agency Bernama. He said he had asked his foreign minister "to liaise with the respective foreign ministries and, if possible, I will continue engaging with them myself — at least to halt the fighting." Thailand, Cambodia trade accusations Thailand's ambassador to the United Nations told a Security Council meeting on Friday that soldiers had been injured by newly planted land mines in Thai territory on two occasions since mid-July — claims Cambodia has strongly denied — and said Cambodia had then launched attacks on Thursday morning. "Thailand urges Cambodia to immediately cease all hostilities and acts of aggression, and resume dialogue in good faith," Cherdchai Chaivaivid told the council in remarks released to media. Cambodia's Defence Ministry said Thailand had launched "a deliberate, unprovoked and unlawful military attack" and was mobilizing troops and military equipment on the border. "These deliberate military preparations reveal Thailand's intent to expand its aggression and further violate Cambodia's sovereignty," the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Cambodia called for the international community to "condemn Thailand's aggression in the strongest terms" and to prevent an expansion of its military activities, while Bangkok reiterated it wanted to resolve the dispute bilaterally. Thailand and Cambodia have bickered for decades over jurisdiction of various undemarcated points along their 817-kilometre land border, with ownership of the ancient Hindu temples Ta Moan Thom and the 11th-century Preah Vihear central to the disputes. Preah Vihear was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, but tension escalated in 2008 after Cambodia attempted to list it as a UNESCO World Heritage site. That led to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths. Cambodia in June said it had asked the court to resolve its disputes with Thailand, which says it has never recognized the court's jurisdiction and prefers a bilateral approach.
